Waiting for Eden: A novel - Hardcover

Ackerman, Elliot

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 110194739X ISBN 13: 9781101947395

Publisher: Knopf, 2018

Synopsis

“Patiently, and unflinchingly, Ackerman is becoming one of the great poet laureates of America’s tragic adventurism across the globe.” —Pico Iyer

Eden lies in a hospital bed, unable to move or speak. His wife Mary spends every day on the sofa in his room. We see them through the eyes of Eden’s best friend, a fellow Marine who didn’t make it back home—and who must relive the secrets held between all three of them as he waits for Eden to finally, mercifully die and join him in whatever comes after.
 
A breathtakingly spare and shattering novel that explores the unseen aftereffects—and unacknowledged casualties—of war, Waiting for Eden is a piercingly insightful, deeply felt meditation on loyalty, friendship, betrayal, and love.
 
“The Tim O’Brien of our era.” —Vogue

“Devastating.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Haunting. . . . Daring.” —The Boston Globe

“Heart-wrenching.” —NPR

About this title

Review:

An Amazon Best Book of October 2018: Elliot Ackerman is a war veteran and a National Book Award finalist, and he has written a short, mesmerizing, and profound novel that I think is even better than his first. Eden was once a warrior, but he is now a wounded vet constrained to a hospital bed, covered in burns and existing on life support. His wife, Mary, cares for their daughter and struggles with the reality of her once-strong husband deteriorating from his injuries. What makes this story different is that it is narrated by Eden’s good friend, who was killed in the war and is waiting to pass from this world. His omniscience is colored by his empathy and understanding for the family, for Eden, and for the very real sacrifices of those who serve. As we watch the present and learn of their past, the book takes on a dreamlike quality that strikes right to the heart and, by doing so, seems all-so-real. This is an illuminating, highly emotional read. Waiting for Eden is an important novel that deserves a wide readership. --Chris Schluep, for the Amazon Book Review

About the Author:

Elliot Ackerman is the author of the novels Dark at the Crossing, which was a finalist for the National Book Award, and Green on Blue. His writings have appeared in Esquire, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and The New York Times Magazine, among other publications, and his stories have been included in The Best American Short Stories.

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 110194739X
• ISBN 13: 9781101947395
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192