FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE PEN/FAULKNER AWARD WINNER OF THE WHITING AWARD WINNER OF THE SAROYAN INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR WRITING WINNTER OF THE VCU CABELL FIRST NOVELIST AWARD WINNER OF THE NEW AMERICAN VOICES AWARD A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY TOP 10 BOOK OF THE YEAR
The first novel by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Trust, an exquisite and blisteringly intelligent story of a young Swedish boy, separated from his brother, who becomes a legend and an outlaw
A young Swedish immigrant finds himself penniless and alone in California. The boy travels east in search of his brother, moving on foot against the great current of emigrants pushing west. Driven back again and again, he meets criminals, naturalists, religious fanatics, swindlers, American Indians, and lawmen, and his exploits turn him into a legend. Diaz defies the conventions of historical fiction and genre, offering a probing look at the stereotypes that populate our past and a portrait of radical foreignness.
Praise for In the Distance: “A gorgeously written novel that charts one man’s growth from boyhood to mythic status as he journeys between continents and the extremes of the human condition.” —Pulitzer Prize finalist citation
“Strange and transporting . . . In the Distance [is] an uncanny achievement.” —The New York Times
“The prose is as unbroken as the horizon. . . . It’s as if Herman Melville had navigated the American West, instead of the ocean.” —The Nation
“This suspenseful novel is a potent depiction of loneliness, a memorable immigration narrative, and a canny reinvention of the old-school western.” —Publishers Weekly
“Plainspoken and wildly, even cosmically, evocative . . . In the end the reader understands the country’s twin potential for horror and hope.” —Whiting Award citation “A singular and deeply affecting portrait of one man’s life in a rapidly changing world.” —The Guardian “An ambitious and thoroughly realized work of revisionist historical fiction.” —Kirkus Reviews “In the Distance did something new . . . raising important questions about cultural attitudes made evident by assumptions we make about art, particularly toward guns and immigrants. It’s also just a great story.” —The Paris Review
“[In the Distance] excels in creating a sense of disorientating foreignness. The result is richly drawn and something like Huckleberry Finn written by Cormac McCarthy: an adventure story as well as a meditation on the meaning of home.” —The Sunday Times “Stitched through with humor, this often-unpredictable novel will keep readers running along with every step of Håkan’s odd escapades.” —Booklist
“Diaz is bound to join ranks with Borges on the literary scene with this mythical personality, still at large in our consciousness long after we’ve put down the book.” —BookPage “While set in the American West, this is no conventional Western, as it turns the genre’s stereotypes upside down, taking place on a frontier as much mythic as real with a main character traveling east.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“[An] extraordinary epic tale of a lone man’s journey into the heart of the American frontier.” —Financial Times
FINALIST FOR THE PULITZER PRIZE FINALIST FOR THE PEN/FAULKNER AWARD WINNER OF THE WHITING AWARD WINNER OF THE SAROYAN INTERNATIONAL PRIZE FOR WRITING WINNTER OF THE VCU CABELL FIRST NOVELIST AWARD WINNER OF THE NEW AMERICAN VOICES AWARD A PUBLISHERS WEEKLY TOP 10 BOOK OF THE YEAR
The first novel by the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Trust, an exquisite and blisteringly intelligent story of a young Swedish boy, separated from his brother, who becomes a legend and an outlaw
A young Swedish immigrant finds himself penniless and alone in California. The boy travels east in search of his brother, moving on foot against the great current of emigrants pushing west. Driven back again and again, he meets criminals, naturalists, religious fanatics, swindlers, American Indians, and lawmen, and his exploits turn him into a legend. Diaz defies the conventions of historical fiction and genre, offering a probing look at the stereotypes that populate our past and a portrait of radical foreignness.
Praise
Praise for In the Distance: “A gorgeously written novel that charts one man’s growth from boyhood to mythic status as he journeys between continents and the extremes of the human condition.” —Pulitzer Prize finalist citation
“Strange and transporting . . . In the Distance [is] an uncanny achievement.” —The New York Times
“The prose is as unbroken as the horizon. . . . It’s as if Herman Melville had navigated the American West, instead of the ocean.” —The Nation
“This suspenseful novel is a potent depiction of loneliness, a memorable immigration narrative, and a canny reinvention of the old-school western.” —Publishers Weekly
“Plainspoken and wildly, even cosmically, evocative . . . In the end the reader understands the country’s twin potential for horror and hope.” —Whiting Award citation “A singular and deeply affecting portrait of one man’s life in a rapidly changing world.” —The Guardian “An ambitious and thoroughly realized work of revisionist historical fiction.” —Kirkus Reviews “In the Distance did something new . . . raising important questions about cultural attitudes made evident by assumptions we make about art, particularly toward guns and immigrants. It’s also just a great story.” —The Paris Review
“[In the Distance] excels in creating a sense of disorientating foreignness. The result is richly drawn and something like Huckleberry Finn written by Cormac McCarthy: an adventure story as well as a meditation on the meaning of home.” —The Sunday Times “Stitched through with humor, this often-unpredictable novel will keep readers running along with every step of Håkan’s odd escapades.” —Booklist
“Diaz is bound to join ranks with Borges on the literary scene with this mythical personality, still at large in our consciousness long after we’ve put down the book.” —BookPage “While set in the American West, this is no conventional Western, as it turns the genre’s stereotypes upside down, taking place on a frontier as much mythic as real with a main character traveling east.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“[An] extraordinary epic tale of a lone man’s journey into the heart of the American frontier.” —Financial Times
