Legend of a Suicide

An extraordinary, ground-breaking piece of fiction ... Nothing quite like this book has been written before * Alex Linklater, Observer *
A richly gifted newcomer * Sunday Times Books for 2009 *
Vann uses startling powers of observation to create strong characters, tense scenes and genuine surprises * Publishers’ Weekly *
Oh my god, Legend of a Suicide just bowled me over completely. It is such a tender, heartbreaking, breathtaking, horrifying and insanely compelling read that when I finished it I went straight back to the beginning and round again. I implore anyone with functioning eyes to read this book * Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine *
So hard to put down that I am thinking of suing David Vann for several hours of lost sleep * Lionel Shriver *
This book squeezes more life out of the first hundred pages than most books could manage in a thousand, which is pretty impressive, considering it's a book about death * Ross Raisin, author of God's Own Country *
In his portrayal of a young son's love for his lost father David Vann has created a stunning work of fiction: surprising, beautiful and intensely moving * Nadeem Aslam, author of Maps for Lost Lovers *
One of the most gripping debuts I've ever read * Philip Hoare, author of Leviathan *
Impossible to put down and equally impossible to forget * San Francisco Chronicle *
An American classic ... harrowing but beautifully wrought ... prose as clear and bracing as a mountain stream * Sunday Times *
One jaw-droppingly powerful, courageous and original fiction debut...As a 10th work of fiction this would be impressive; as a debut, it is remarkable * Sunday Telegraph *
Hands down the best fictional debut we have read this year * Dazed & Confused *
For the imagery alone and for the sentences, the book would be a treasure, but the story it tells - the story of the suicide of the author's father - has an immediacy and sharpness made all the more special by the tone of distance in the narrative and the beauty of the writing * Colm Toibin, Observer books of the year *
David Vann's Legend of a Suicide is brave, fantastically well written, and completely defies categorisation * Julie Myerson, Daily Telegraph books of the year *
From the shores of Vann's Alaska one can see the Russia of Turgenev's Fathers and Sons ... 'A father, after all,' Vann writes, 'is a lot for a thing to be.' A son is also a lot for a thing to be; so is an artist. With Legend of a Suicide David Vann proves himself a fine example of both * New York Times *
From the shores of Vann's Alaska one can see the Russia of Turgenev's Fathers and Sons ... 'A father, after all,' Vann writes, 'is a lot for a thing to be.' A son is also a lot for a thing to be; so is an artist. With Legend of a Suicide David Vann proves himself a fine example of both * New York Times *
Impossible to put down and equally impossible to forget * San Francisco Chronicle *