Leaving the Sea (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780307739988)

By turns hilarious and heartfelt, dark and illuminative, Ben Marcus's Leaving the Sea is a ground breaking collection of stories from one of the single most vital, extraordinary, and unique writers of his generation.

In the heartfelt "I Can Say Many Nice Things," a washed-up writer toying with infidelity leads a creative writing workshop on board a cruise ship. In the dystopian "Rollingwood," a divorced father struggles to take care of his ill infant, as his ex-wife and colleagues try to render him irrelevant. In "Watching Mysteries with My Mother," a son meditates on his mother's mortality, hoping to stave off her death for as long as he sits by her side. And in the title story, told in a single breathtaking sentence, we watch as the narrator's marriage and his sanity unravel, drawing him to the brink of suicide. Surreal and tender, terrifying and life-affirming, Leaving the Sea is the work of an utterly unique writer at the height of his powers.

Author: Ben Marcus
ISBN-10: 0307739988
ISBN-13: 9780307739988
Publisher: Vintage
Language: English
Published: 10/07/2014
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 7.80h x 5.10w x 0.70d

Review Citation(s):
New York Times Book Review 11/09/2014 pg. 56