The hat has chosen Caribou Island by David Vann, a book the New York Times has called a “swift and beautifully written first novel” and one that “gets to places other novels can’t touch”. I’m thinking, however, that it may well be interestingly tricky. Plenty of other reviewers, including Patrick Ness in the Guardian, have described it as something of a third book, following on from his breakthrough novella and story collection, Legend of a Suicide and bestselling memoir A Mile Down.
Either way, as a fan of both difficult third books (and albums) as well as Legend of a Suicide, I’ll be fascinated to see how this one turns out. To help others wondering whether to take the plunge, we have 10 copies to give away to the first 10 readers in the UK to post “I want a copy please” – along with a nice, constructive comment relevant to the book – in the comments section below. If you’re lucky enough to be one of the first to comment, don’t forget to email Laura Kemp (laura.kemp@theguardian.com), as we can’t track you down ourselves. Be nice to her, too.
In the meantime, I’ll be glad to receive all comments, suggestions for potential topics for discussion and opinions on David Vann, what makes this book so divisive – and what else we should be reading to get a fix on it.
