The People Who Watched Her Pass By - Softcover

Bradfield, Scott

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0982015151 ISBN 13: 9780982015155

Publisher: Two Dollar Radio, 2010

Synopsis

"Brave and unforgettable. Scott Bradfield creates a country for the reader to wander through, holding Sal's hand, assuming goodness." -Los Angeles Times

"Scott Bradfield is an otherworldy writer. There is an inarguable wholeness to [The People Who Watched Her Pass By], as in certain dreams." -Rain Taxi

"Drive[s] straight into the Zen void at the heart of the classic road." -Bookforum

"A wake-up call shouting Bradfield's humorously erudite take on modern American life." -WOSU

In his fifth novel, Scott Bradfield delivers an arresting and unsentimental childhood voice.

Salome Jensen is three years old when she is taken from her home by the man who fixes the hot water heater. As Sal drifts through Laundromats and people’s homes, she develops a perspective of the world and an understanding of its people more meaningful than the most erudite observer could muster.

Sal is never a victim or abused, she’s simply a child providing a humorous and fresh take on society.

The People Who Watched Her Pass By is often hilarious as well as startling, and it is a poignant new contribution to the body of literature of a respected prose craftsman.

About this title

About the Author:

Scott Bradfield is the author of The History of Luminous Motion, Good Girl Wants It Bad, Hot Animal Love, The Secret Life of Houses, Dream of the Wolf, Greetings From Earth, What's Wrong with America, and Animal Planet.

From Publishers Weekly:

Though Bradfield's fifth novel has the premise of a thriller or a dark psychological study, it flips reader expectations with deadpan irony. At three years old, Sal Jensen is kidnapped by the man who fixed the hot water heater. Known to both Sal and the reader as simply Daddy, he treats her with a respect bordering on reverence, and Sal remains calm and keenly observant. (Significantly, neither Sal's original family nor home are ever mentioned.) When nosy neighbor Mrs. Anderson becomes too intrusive, Daddy soon takes off, in effect leaving Sal in the care of Mrs. Anderson, the first of several foster families that are revealed in strung-together and seemingly interchangeable vignettes. Most intriguing among the set pieces is the Laundromat where Sal lives for several months. Though Bradfield's (The History of Luminous Motion) wounded child's eye-view of a homogenized America isn't exactly new, he's an adept prose stylist, and his portrayal of children as symbols instead of individuals is incisive. (Apr.)
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About this edition

• Publisher: Two Dollar Radio
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0982015151
• ISBN 13: 9780982015155
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 146