Peter Heller holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers Workshop in both fiction and poetry. An award-winning adventure writer and longtime contributor to NPR, Heller is a contributing editor at "Outside" magazine, "Men s Journal, " and "National Geographic Adventure, " and a regular contributor to "Bloomberg" "Businessweek."He is also the author of several nonfiction books, including "Kook," "The Whale Warriors, " and "Hell or High Water: Surviving Tibet s Tsangpo River." He lives in Denver, Colorado."
"The Dog Stars" creates a delicate balance between
post-civilization wish fulfillment and the deep human need for
connection. . . . Heller writes like a kind of latter-day Hemingway
or McCarthy. . . . Our current uncertainties can t hold a candle to
nuclear war or a devastating plague, but in the end, the remedy for
our fears remains the same: love and connection. Clay Evans,
"Boulder Daily Camera"
Heller sculpts a unique and compelling story [and] an intricate
hero who inspires a risky break from complacency in a quest for
happiness that can t be planned but must be forged. . . . [Heller
s] best work yet, combining his keen eye for details and his
energetic writing with a gift for introspective storytelling. Jason
Blevins, "The Denver Post"
["The Dog Stars"] gripped me it s the real deal. Heller s voice is
extraordinary and his narrator s toughness seems to hide a
beautiful and aching restlessness. One of those books that makes
you happy for literature. Junot Diaz, "Wall Street Journal"
A novel about no less than isolation, humanity, empathy, and need.
"The Christian Science Monitor"
Lyrical . . . This is a beautiful, haunting and hopeful book
written with a poetic sparseness that makes your breath catch and
your heart ache. Carole O Brien, "Aspen Daily News Online"
Heller has created a heartbreakingly moving love story with "The
Dog Stars," one of this year s greatest literary surprises. . . . A
poetic and stellar story of what can happen to men and women when
their world begins to die. It s an ode to what we ve lost so far,
and how we risk losing everything. Grade: A+ John J. Kelly,
"Cincinnati City Beat"
Vivacious . . . Heller s writing is powerful and elegant even when
in the vernacular, and polished to a high degree. The narrator s
voice comes through in all his sadness. The story as far as it goes
is relatively believable, swiftly paced and engrossing. Michel
Basilieres, "The Star"
Beautifully narrated . . . a book that will surprise you. . . . Hig
is a charmer, a man of his word with a wicked sense of humor and an
acute sense of survival. His eyes are open to the world as only a
poet s can be, observing and absorbing any beauty left in the
aftermath of the world s tragedy. . . . The author shocks readers
with unexpected bursts of action-packed scenes that keep the book
moving at a suspenseful pace, without compromising the literary
style. Heller has written a rare novel that combines readability
with high-style prose, while making each compliment the other. The
result is a book that rests easily on shelves with Dean Koontz,
Jack London or Hemingway. The prose in this novel is anything but
conventional. It often is painfully beautiful as the story lapses
into arching poetic verse when High is pushed to the very depths of
despair, yet still he retains hope. "The Dog Stars" illustrates the
strength of bonds that can be formed between men, the fierce
companionship between man and dog, and the inner-struggle of a
survivor's guilt with gut-wrenching clarity. Heller s sensitivity
to nature and descriptive detail brings about an appreciation that
will make readers pause, if only for a moment, to reflect on the
majesty of their own natural surroundings. It s a tale of humanity
after Doomsday, from an author who s not afraid to step out of his
comfort zone. Mindy Sansoucie, "The Missourian"
What [Hig] encounters along the way brings to the fore primal
instincts and essential desires. The action is swift, pinpointing
old struggles with little ado: Companionship is what we long for,
memory is what confounds us, sex is what agitates the caldron of
all we are. The narrative has the urgency and rhythm of Morse code.
An amalgam of long and short utterances, it goes far in conveying
the near-isolation of an alert mind. . . . In the end, the
stronghold grows. Whether that has larger implications for the
future of humanity is irrelevant. Scarcity leads to the discovery
of new pleasures. To a re-evaluation of what matters. To a sense of
home. Giving one s dog a place among the constellations in the
company of a lover amounts to all of the above. Rudy Mesicek, "The
Salt Lake Tribune
"
Fresh . . . quiet, meditative . . . it s the people [Hig] meets
when he least expects to who change everything, proving a truth we
know from our everyday nonfictional lives: Even when it seems like
all the humans in the world are only out for themselves, there are
always those few who prove you absolutely wrong in the most
surprising of ways. Leigh Newman, "Oprah.com"
"A stupendous debut, Heller's voice is both haunted and
irresistible. A post-apocalyptic novel with so much emotional truth
it reads like a memoir from the future. About a worn-out pilot, his
beloved Cessna, his copilot dog and our endless longing for
connection even in a world undone." Junot Diaz
When Hig takes his plane into the wilderness surrounding the
airport, "The Dog Stars" can feel less like a 21st-century
apocalypse and more like a 19th-century frontier narrative (albeit
one in which many, many species have become extinct). There are
echoes of Grizzly Adams or Jeremiah Johnson in scenes where Heller
lingers on the details of how the water in a flowing stream changes
color as the sun moves across the sky, or making a fire from fallen
twigs on a bed of dry moss. Modern technology finds its way back
into the story, but we re so far inside Hig s head that it feels
like one more element in the dreamlike landscape. Though it is
punctuated by intensely violent outbursts, once these recede into
the background, Heller s novel can approach moments of quiet,
poetic beauty. Ron Hogan, "Dallas News"
An elegy for a lost world turns suddenly into a paean to new
possibilities. In "The Dog Stars," Peter Heller serves up an
insightful account of physical, mental, and spiritual survival
unfolded in dramatic and often lyrical prose . . . in which
unexpected hope persistently flickers amid darkness. Alan Cheuse,
"The Boston Globe"
Hig sees animals in the stars, beauty in trees and love in his
memories and so will you. The story is at times brutal but the
language is often poetic. This is a deeply felt story about things
we all crave: connection, love and survival in an unforgiving
world. Ronni Mott, "Jackson Free Press"
[A] terrific debut novel . . . Recalling the bleakness of Cormac
McCarthy and the trout-praising beauty of David James Duncan, "The
Dog Stars" makes a compelling case that the wild world will survive
the apocalypse just fine; it s the humans who will have the heavy
lifting. Bruce Barcott, "Outside" Magazine
Suspenseful, full of action and hope, and a love story. . . . The
book is one you ll not soon forget. Kay Dyer, "The Oklahoman"
Heller s writing gives you a heartbreaking jolt, like a sudden
wakening from a dream. Moira Macdonald, "The Seattle Times"
What separates Heller's book from other End of Days stories is that
it doesn't rely on the thematic fail-safes to tell the story "The
Dog Stars" is quite simply the story of what it's like to be alone.
What it feels like to not know more than one or two other people
for a decade. What it's like to love those people while fearing
them, all the time knowing that survival sometimes means you have
to shoot first. Melody Datz, "The Stranger
"
Heller crafts a richly emotional perspective on how humans choose
to respond when confronted with calamity. . . . [T]here s a
singular voice at work here in Hig s halting first-person narration
that turns his mind into a battleground between two choices of
handling apocalypse: self-preserving fear, or risky humanity. At
times funny, at times thrilling, at times simply heartbreaking and
always rich with a love of nature, "The Dog Stars" finds a peculiar
poetry in deciding that there s really no such thing as the end of
the world just a series of decisions about how we live in whatever
world we ve got. Scott Renshaw, "Salt Lake City Weekly
"
"The Dog Stars" by Peter Heller is a heavenly book, a stellar
achievement by a debut novelist that manages to combine sparkling
prose with truly memorable, shining, characters. It contains
constellations of grand images and ideas, gleams with vitality, and
sparkles with wit. And for a story of this ilk, it is also a rarity
radiant with hope. Despite the many terrible events threatening to
engulf our heroes, "The Dog Stars" never falls into the black hole
of hopelessness common in many post-apocalyptic fictions. . . .
Luminous with bright ideas . . . "The Dog Stars" is the story of
Hig s conversation with his faith, with his humanity, with his
former life. By turns moving, articulate and, exciting, it is also
one of those stories that remains with the reader long after the
book is closed. It contains all of the lyricism of Cormac McCarthy
at his best Hig fights for things that have no use anymore except
as a bulwark against oblivion. Against the darkness of total loss.
And he reaches for the stars. For the constellations of his memory.
He looks up and not down. A. J. Kirby, "New York Journal of
Books"
With its soulful hero, macabre villains, tender love story and
action scenes staggered at perfectly spaced intervals, ["The Dog
Stars"] unfolds with the vigor of the film it will undoubtedly
become. But it also succeeds as a dark, poetic and funny novel in
its own right. . . . That [Hig s] story is not in the end
depressing may be the most disturbing part of this novel. In fact,
at times, the destruction of civilization seems to have given Hig
the chance to live more richly in the present, to feel grace more
acutely, to sleep outdoors and gaze up at the stars in his purged,
rejuvenated universe. It is frightening to face up to the
apocalypse. It s perhaps even more frightening when we get past
that and start seeing its upside. Jennifer Reese, "NPR"
A stunning, hope-riddled end-of-the-world story . . . bound to
become a classic. Emily Temple, "Flavorwire"
"The Dog Stars" is a post-apocalyptic adventure novel with the soul
of haiku. . . . Heller is a well-known adventure writer, and his
knowledge of and sensitivity to nature and outdoor pursuits come
through here with precision and power. . . . A novel that gets
under the skin of what it means to survive unbearable loss.
Margaret Quamme, "The Columbus Dispatch"
A heart-wrenching and richly written story about loss and survival
and, more important, about learning to love again. . . . "The Dog
Stars" is a love story, but not just in the typical sense. It s an
ode to friendship between two men, a story of the strong bond
between a human and a dog, and a reminder of what is worth living
for. Michele Filgate, "Minneapolis Star Tribune"
By putting us in the worst of all possible times, literature can
allow us to experience the best side of humankind, where instead of
giving up, we struggle desperately in the ruins for love,
connection and hope. And that brings us to Peter Heller s ravishing
doomsday novel, "The Dog Stars." . . . An indelible core of
kindness beats like a heart within [Hig]. . . . The supreme
pleasure of this book is the lovely writing. Hig talks to himself,
and to us, in a kind of syncopated rhythm that s as intimate as a
conversation, with pauses and clipped words. . . . In the midst of
all the devastation, Heller shows us the stunning beauty of the
natural world. . . . The pages of "The Dog Stars" are damp with
grief for what is lost and can never be recovered. But there are
moments of unexpected happiness, of real human interaction, infused
with love and hope, like the twinkling of a star we might wish
upon, which makes this end-of-the-world novel more like a rapturous
beginning. . . . Remarkable. Caroline Leavitt, "San Francisco
Chronicle"
Magical and life-affirming. Eric Brown, "The Guardian"
Terrific . . . With echoes of "Moby Dick," "The Dog Stars" . . .
brings Melville s broad, contemplative exploration of good and evil
to his story; he tells it in the spare, often disjunctive, language
of Beckett. Heller s vision, however, is not as dark as that of his
literary antecedents. . . . With startling lyricism, Heller s
accomplished first novel rises above the inherent darkness of a
world stripped bare by disease, climate change and violence Bruce
Jacobs, "Shelf Awareness"
Alternates between elegiac reflection, lyrical nature writing, and
intense, high-caliber action. "NPR"
The critically acclaimed book of the summer. "Philadelphia Magazine
"
"The Dog Stars "is a compelling debut from author Peter Heller,
which decisively strikes at the ever-arching desire to know what
makes us human. . . . Gruff, tormented and inspirational, Heller
has the astonishing ability to make you laugh, cringe and feel
ridiculously vulnerable throughout the novel that will have you
rereading certain passages with a hard lump in the pit of your
stomach. One of the most powerful reads in years. "Playboy"
After an award-winning career as an adventure writer and NPR
contributor, Heller has written a stunning debut novel. In spare,
poetic prose, he portrays a soaring spirit of hope that triumphs
over heartbreak, trauma, and insurmountable struggles. A timely
must-read. "Library Journal" (starred)
Richly evocative yet streamlined journal entries propel the
high-stakes plot while simultaneously illuminating Hig s nuanced
states of mind as isolation and constant vigilance exact their
toll, along with his sorrow for the dying world . . . Heller s
surprising and irresistible blend of suspense, romance, social
insight, and humor creates a cunning form of cognitive dissonance
neatly pegged by Hig as an apocalyptic parody of Norman Rockwell a
novel, that is, of spiky pleasure and signal resonance. " "Donna
Seaman, " Booklist"(starred)
In the tradition of postapocalyptic literary fiction such as Cormac
McCarthy s "The Road" and Jim Crace s "The Pesthouse," this
hypervisceral first novel by adventure writer Heller ("Kook") takes
place nine years after a superflu has killed off much of mankind. .
. . With its evocative descriptions of hunting, fishing, and
flying, this novel, perhaps the world s most poetic survival guide,
reads as if Billy Collins had novelized one of George Romero s
zombie flicks. From start to finish, Heller carries the reader
aloft on graceful prose, intense action, and deeply felt emotion.
"Publishers Weekly" (starred)
Leave it to Peter Heller to imagine a post-apocalyptic world that
contains as much loveliness as it does devastation.His likable
hero, Hig, flies around what was once Colorado in his 1956 Cessna,
chasing all the same things we chase in these pre-annihilation
days: love, friendship, the solace of the natural world, the chance
to perform some small kindness, and a good dog for a co-pilot.
"TheDog Stars" is a wholly compelling and deeply engaging debut.
Pam Houston, author of "Contents May Have Shifted"
Take the sensibility of Hemingway. Or James Dickey. Place it in a
world where a flu mutation has wiped out ninety-nine percent of the
population. Add in a heartbroken man with a fishing rod, some guns,
a small plane. Don't forget the dog. Now imagine this man retains
more hope than might be wise in such a battered and brutal time.
More trust. More hunger for love more capacity for it, too. That's
what Peter Heller has given us in his beautifully written first
novel. "The Dog Stars" is a gripping tale of one man's fight for
survival against impossibly long odds. A man who has lost nearly
everything but his soul. And what's so moving about Heller's book
is that he shows us how sometimes a big soul is the only thing a
man needs: the keystone, the center pillar, the hunk of masonry
upon which all else will rise or fall. Scott Smith, author of "A
Simple Plan" and "The Ruins
"
Heller is a masterful storyteller and "The Dog Stars" is a
beautiful tribute to the resilience of nature and the relentless
human drive to find meaning and deep connections with life and the
living. In this chillingly realistic post-apocalyptic setting,
readers will root for Heller's characters and be moved by their
toughness as well as their tenderness. Julianna Baggott, author of
"Pure"
"The Dog Stars" is a giant of a novel that goes about its profound
business with what looks alarmingly like ease. For all those who
thought Cormac McCarthy's"The Road"the last word on the
post-apocalyptic world think again. Peter Heller has dark and
glittering news from the future, and delivers it in prose that
stops you like a wolf in the snow. Make time and space for this
savage, tender, brilliant book. Glen Duncan, author of "The Last
Werewolf "and "Talulla Rising""
Hig, the hero of Heller's thoughtful postapocalyptic novel, is a soft man in a hard world. One of the few survivors of a virus that wiped out most of humanity, Hig is better suited to reading poetry, fishing with his dog, and reminiscing than scratching out a hardscrabble existence in the land that used to be Colorado. If it weren't for Bangley, a cantankerous, survivalist neighbor, roaming hordes of bandits would have killed Hig long ago. So, finding himself alive despite everything that's happened, Hig must to forge a new life in a new world. Narrator Mark Deakins turns in a winning performance. He deftly alternates between Hig's inner monologue, lush descriptions of the Colorado Rockies, and staccato prose. Throughout the book, Hig's first-person narration is interrupted by the imagined voice of Bangley-an element that could be confusing for listeners. Deakins rises to the challenge, however, creating distinct voices for the characters and an enjoyable listening experience. A Knopf hardcover. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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