All the different strands are still rushing around in my head, still astounding me, pulling me back for I read it like a galloping horse, so totally hooked was I. The chapters alternate between what is happening in the City and Laura Byrd struggling to stay alive in the Antarctic. The link between the two is spellbinding, utterly brilliant. Highly recommended.
Time is running out for Laura Byrd. Three weeks ago she and her colleagues found themselves alone in one of the coldest, most remote places on earth. The others set out in search of help, and now Laura realizes that they are not coming back. So she gathers her remaining supplies and sets out on an extraordinary journey.
Meanwhile in another city, more and more people arrive every day. Each has a different story to tell, but their accounts have one thing in common – it was their final journey. For this is the city of the dead. And the link between this city and Laura’s journey lies at the heart of Kevin Brockmeier’s remarkable novel.
Kevin Brockmeier is the author of the story collection Things That Fall from the Sky and the children’s novel City of Names. He has published stories in many magazines and anthologies, including The New Yorker, The Georgia Review, McSweeney’s, and The Best American Short Stories. He has received the Chicago Tribune’s Nelson Algren Award, an Italo Calvino Short Fiction Award, a James Michener—Paul Engle Fellowship, two O. Henry Awards (one of which was a first prize), and, most recently, an NEA grant. He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.
