This Is the End of Something But it's Not the End of You
Adam Gnade's third novel This is the End of Something But It's Not the End of You is held up by a Springsteenian sense of hope and a desire for redemption, of finding glory and escape, friendship and love in hard times.
Like Dickens' David Copperfield, Ferrante's Neapolitan tetralogy, and Karl Ove Knausgaard's My Struggle series, this is the story of a human life, kindergarten to adulthood, ratty beach apartment to bohemian party house, feverish basement to ramshackle farmhouse.
Through the eyes of Gnade's protagonist, James Jackson Bozic, we see how life scars you, changes you as you fight to find a safe place for yourself. It is, in turn, a murder mystery, a love story, and a vast, sweeping, panoramic look at America on the edge of collapse. It's a story of displacement, strange shores, new mornings. As James says in the book, "I thought of how sometimes in the midst of survival, life will jerk you away from your home, how it will push you out across the map, away from the people you love, or into the path of others." This Is the End... is about scratching and clawing for a better, safer, more satisfying life, even as the sky comes crashing down.
Praise for This is the End...
"One of the most remarkable aspects of Gnade's writing is how he's able to juxtapose sentimental, beautiful imagery and striking insight with the often brutal, tragic fate of his characters—sometimes all within the same page. It makes for devastating, memorable prose. This Is the End of Something But It's Not the End of You exhibits all of this wonderfully; it is undoubtedly his finest novel." —Jonas Cannon, author of Cheer the Eff Up
"Adam Gnade cuts through the clutter of late-capitalism’s excess, exposing the raw, pulsing core of American loneliness and heartbreak. Read this book." —Jim Ruland, author of My Damage: the Story of a Punk Rock Survivor
Softcover book.
Like Dickens' David Copperfield, Ferrante's Neapolitan tetralogy, and Karl Ove Knausgaard's My Struggle series, this is the story of a human life, kindergarten to adulthood, ratty beach apartment to bohemian party house, feverish basement to ramshackle farmhouse.
Through the eyes of Gnade's protagonist, James Jackson Bozic, we see how life scars you, changes you as you fight to find a safe place for yourself. It is, in turn, a murder mystery, a love story, and a vast, sweeping, panoramic look at America on the edge of collapse. It's a story of displacement, strange shores, new mornings. As James says in the book, "I thought of how sometimes in the midst of survival, life will jerk you away from your home, how it will push you out across the map, away from the people you love, or into the path of others." This Is the End... is about scratching and clawing for a better, safer, more satisfying life, even as the sky comes crashing down.
Praise for This is the End...
"One of the most remarkable aspects of Gnade's writing is how he's able to juxtapose sentimental, beautiful imagery and striking insight with the often brutal, tragic fate of his characters—sometimes all within the same page. It makes for devastating, memorable prose. This Is the End of Something But It's Not the End of You exhibits all of this wonderfully; it is undoubtedly his finest novel." —Jonas Cannon, author of Cheer the Eff Up
"Adam Gnade cuts through the clutter of late-capitalism’s excess, exposing the raw, pulsing core of American loneliness and heartbreak. Read this book." —Jim Ruland, author of My Damage: the Story of a Punk Rock Survivor
Softcover book.
