The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl
-
-
4.5 • 4 Ratings
-
-
- $12.99
Publisher Description
Both sweeping and exquisitely intimate, award-winning author Bart Yates blends historical fact and fiction in a surprising, thought-provoking saga spanning 12 significant days across nearly 100 years in the life of a single man, beginning in 1920s Utah.
“Each day is a story, whether or not that story makes any damn sense or is worth telling to anyone else.”
At the age of ninety-six, Isaac Dahl sits down to write his memoir. For Isaac, an accomplished journalist and historian, finding the right words to convey events is never a problem. But this book will be different from anything he has written before. Focusing on twelve different days, each encapsulated in a chapter, Isaac hopes to distill the very essence of his life.
There are days that begin like any other, only to morph through twists of fate. An avalanche strikes Bingham, Utah, and eight-year-old Isaac and his twin sister, Agnes, survive when they are trapped in an upside-down bathtub. Other days stand apart in history—including a day in 1942, when Isaac, stationed on the USS Houston in the Java Sea as a rookie correspondent, confronts the full horror of war. And there are days spent simply, with his lifelong friend, Bo, or with Danny, the younger man whose love transforms Isaac’s later years—precious days with significance that grows clear only in hindsight.
From the Oklahoma Dust Bowl to a Mississippi school at the apex of the civil rights movement, Isaac tells his story with insight, wisdom, and emotional depth. The Very Long, Very Strange Life of Isaac Dahl is a wonderful, singular narrative that will spark conversation and reflection—a reminder that there is no such thing as an ordinary life, and the greatest accomplishment of all is to live and love fully
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Yates (The Language of Love and Loss) chronicles the eventful life of a gay man through the tumultuous events of the 20th century. Isaac Dahl, 96, began his career as a journalist during WWII. Now, in 2014, he attempts to write his memoir, which forms the bulk of the narrative. It chronicles his origins in rural Utah, where, in 1926, he's a skinny and timid boy of eight, living in a one-room house with his parents and fearless twin sister. His best friend Bo visits often, though no one suspects Isaac's budding attraction to him. Isaac structures his account in 12 chapters, each of which takes place over the course of one day in eight-year intervals. At 16, he survives an Oklahoma dust storm; during WWII, while serving as a civilian correspondent, he reports from a battleship during a bombardment. Later, he covers an atomic bomb testing on the Marshall Islands, civil rights protests in the 1960s, and the devastation of the AIDS epidemic. Isaac also reveals the outcome of his long friendship with Bo and the strength he draws from his twin sister. In Yates's sure hand, Isaac's story becomes a charming and inspiring testament to queer resilience. This will move readers.
