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Title details for The Swan by Jim Cohee - Available

The Swan

A Novel

by Jim Cohee
ebook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
“Alternately funny, entertaining, and heartbreaking, The Swan is a fictional memoir about love, death and what a family can―and cannot―endure.” —Publishers Weekly
 
Indianapolis, 1957. Ten-year-old Aaron Cooper has witnessed the death of his younger sister, Pookie, and the trauma has left him unwilling to speak. Aaron copes with life’s challenges by disappearing into his own imagination, envisioning being captain of the Kon Tiki, driving his sled in the snowy Klondike, and tiger hunting in India. He is guarded by secret friends like deposed Hungarian Count Blurtz Shemshoian and Blurtz’s wonder dog, Nipper, who protect him from the Creature from the Black Lagoon—who hides in Aaron’s closet at night. The tales he constructs for himself, the real life stories he is witness to, and his mother’s desperate efforts to bring her son back from the brink, all come to a head at an emotional family dinner.
 
“Funny, poignant and as endearing as its central character, The Swan is a wholly original tribute to childhood resilience.” —San Jose Mercury News
 
“Had Kurt Vonnegut, William Saroyan, J. D. Salinger, Carlos Castaneda, Raymond Carver and James Thurber ever gathered at a writer’s workshop to co-author a short novel, the product might well have been The Swan.” —Terre Haute Tribune Star
 
“A surreal study of a grief observed indirectly, The Swan serves as a testament to the unbridled power of childhood vision, even and especially in the wake of tragedy.” —Bloom magazine

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    August 19, 2011

  • Formats

    • Kindle Book

    • OverDrive Read

      • ISBN: 9780253005397

    • EPUB ebook

      • ISBN: 9780253005397
      • File size: 777 KB

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      July 4, 2011
      This tiny and poignant book chronicles a 10-year-old boy's struggles to come to grips with family calam-ity and his retreat into fantasy. Protagonist Aaron Cooper's, who lives in Indiana near the White River, imagines himself catching spies, wrestling snakes, and driving dog teams. Bit by bit, Cohee reveals details that alter the seemingly cheery Indiana landscape. There is an early reference to Aaron's 7-year-old sister Pookie, who died in a car crash. Around the time of Pookie's death, Aaron becomes curious about the red light on the local radio tower and acquires mysterious powers. His heartbreak over losing his sister is exacerbated by the enormous rift in his parents' marriage. Aaron retreats into fantasy, stops talking, and writes anonymous and ominous notes (signed by Mr. X) to the police department about his neighbors. Alternately funny, entertaining, and heartbreaking, The Swan is a fictional memoir about love, death and what a family canâand cannotâendure.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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