An enthralling novel of a mother and son's turbulent relationship from the author of Out Stealing Horses
I Curse the River of Time
A Novel
- “Subtly incisive. . . . Clean sentence after clean sentence, Petterson conveys both the melancholy and the demi-pleasurable sensation of being fundamentally untethered.”—The New York Times Book Review
1989: Communism is crumbling, and Arvid Jansen, 37, is facing his first divorce. At the same time, his mother gets diagnosed with cancer. Over a few intense autumn days, we follow Arvid as he struggles to find a new footing in his life, while all the established patterns around him are changing at staggering speed. I Curse the River of Time is an honest, heartbreaking yet humorous portrayal of a complicated mother-son relationship told in Petterson's precise and beautiful prose.
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About the Author
Credit: Baard Henriksen
Praise
- “Clear, colloquial and unadorned. . . . At moments when a lot of American prose seems fizzy and over-rich, the sentences in I Curse the River of Time go down like an eye-watering shot of aquavit.”—Charles McGrath, The New York Times
- “Like Raymond Carver at his intricate best. . . . Readers will find that they’re in the hands of a master whose quiet, unforgettable voice leaves you yearning to hear more.”—The Boston Globe
- “[Per Petterson] provides one of literature’s greatest gifts in his novels—an absorbing interiority that creates a welcome refuge from our cacophonous world.”—NPR
- “Petterson doesn’t dole out comforts, simply the quiet advice that since we can't choose how we die, we’d better be careful how we choose to live.”—Entertainment Weekly
