The 39 Deaths of Adam Strand
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Adam Strand isn’t depressed. He’s just bored. Disaffected. So he kills himself—39 times. No matter the method, Adam can’t seem to stay dead; he awakes after each suicide alive and physically unharmed, more determined to succeed and undeterred by others’ concerns. But when his self-contained, self-absorbed path is diverted, Adam is struck by the reality that life is an ever-expanding web of impact and forged connections, and that nothing—not even death—can sever those bonds.
In this hyper-edgy coming-of-age story told in stark, arresting prose, Alex Award-winning author Gregory Galloway finds hope and understanding in the blackest humor.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this introspective novel from adult author Galloway (As Simple as Snow), a teenager's longing for death is thwarted by his inability to die. Adam Strand is a suicidal 17-year-old who returns from the dead after every attempt to take his own life, whether from jumping from a bridge, drowning, taking poison, or hanging. His friends are tolerant, his family frustrated, his neighbors annoyed, and his therapist useless. Over a summer, Adam contemplates his role in the world, confronts his lack of motivation, hangs out with his friends, and tries to connect to others. It's a bleak, provocative, and almost nihilistic story in which very little actually happens. The narrative has a tendency to backtrack, meander, or come to a halt there's an inertia to the novel that mirrors Adam's disinterest in existence, though he gains an appreciation of life in a resolution that's neat but not overly rosy. Readers may see something of themselves in Adam's confusion and dark impulses, in which case his message is clear: "I am moving forward, inch by inch some days." Ages 14 up.
