A dazzling, emotionally riveting debut collection: the seven stories in Nam Le’s The Boat take us across the globe as he enters the hearts and minds of characters from all over the world.
Whether Nam Le is conjuring the story of 14-year-old Juan, a hit man in Colombia; or an aging painter mourning the death of his much-younger lover; or a young refugee fleeing Vietnam, crammed in the ship's hold with 200 others, the result is unexpectedly moving and powerful.
This is an extraordinary work of fiction that takes us to the heart of what it means to be human, and announces a writer of astonishing talent
Le's book takes a playful swipe at the good intentions of liberal America.
A superb collection, brimming with humour and compassion.
Le has the ability to hit notes of real emotional intensity.
Hari Kunzru, ScotsmanThese are people on the edge, and Nam's prose captures their desperation...bold and worthwhile. Memoirists should stick to what they know; the point of literature is to expand the limits of the world.
Aravind Adiga, Financial TimesAn assured and tremendously readable collection from a young writer with rare scope and strength.
ObserverEach voice is achingly present and authentic...['Halflead Bay'] is as good as anything Tim Winton has produced about Australian society.
GuardianWonderful stories that snarl and pant across our crazed world . . . an extraordinary performance by a fine new talent. Nam Le is a heartbreaker, not easily forgotten.
Junot DiazLe has the ability to hit notes of real emotional intensity.
Hari Kunzru, ScotsmanThese are people on the edge, and Nam's prose captures their desperation...bold and worthwhile. Memoirists should stick to what they know; the point of literature is to expand the limits of the world.
Aravind Adiga, Financial TimesAn assured and tremendously readable collection from a young writer with rare scope and strength.
ObserverEach voice is achingly present and authentic...['Halflead Bay'] is as good as anything Tim Winton has produced about Australian society.
Guardian[Cartagena] is a gripping, intricately woven piece of crime fiction...Psychological insight is a hallmark of Le's work, but he also has a facility for a kind of dark humour...Le uses carefully imagined details to conjure up distant worlds and individuals...Stories like [The Boat] desmonstrate Le's ability to use sensory experiences to evoke the most distant situations and show that he has a considerable talent.
Hirsh Sawney, Times Literary SupplementA promising and fiercely talented writer
TelegraphThe short story collection is constantly on the endangered list, but this stunning collection...shows that it is alive and in the best of health.
The TimesI was impressed and deeply moved by the many worlds to which this brilliant young writer transported me. A terrific book.
Margot LiveseyThe Boat is an impressive feat, and the debut of a very talented writer.
Adam HaslettThe Boat is tremendous, challenging and ambitious, worthy of the same shelf that holds Dubliners and The Things They Carried-like those works, it asks to be read as a whole and taken seriously as a book... this book nails our collective now, our kairos, with an urgency and relevance that feels visionary.
Charles D'AmbrosioNam Le writes with a rare blend of courage and beauty ... Book your passage on The Boat
. You will not forget the people you meet on the voyage.
Chris OffuttFrom the very first page of
The Boat, Nam Le's extraordinary talent, range of vision, and moral courage make the reader sit up and take notice. By the last page, one feels a kind of fervent gratitude-rare enough these days-for having been introduced to a young writer whose mark on the literary world, so freshly made, will only grow deeper in the years to come.
John Burnham SchwartzMasterfully controlled . . . Taken together, the stories cover a vast geographical territory and are filled with exquisitely painful and raw moments of revelation, captured in an economical style as deft as it is sure.
Publishers WeeklyA polished and intense debut story collection of astonishing range … brilliantly conceived … stunning … this book is very good.
Kirkus ReviewsA breathtakingly assured collection of stories—powerful, moving, unsparingly honest—exhibiting a narrative confidence and range that is as remarkable as it is mature. A tremendous debut.
William Boyd, author of RestlessWonderful stories that snarl and pant across our crazed world . . . an extraordinary performance by a fine new talent. Nam Le is a heartbreaker, not easily forgotten.
Junot Diaz, author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
