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Overview
A national bestseller combining the emotional depth of The Art of Racing in the Rain with the magical spirit of The Life of Pi, "Lily and the Octopus is the dog book you must read this summer" (The Washington Post). Ted--a gay, single, struggling writer is stuck: unable to open himself up to intimacy except through the steadfast companionship of Lily, his elderly dachshund. When Lily's health is compromised, Ted vows to save her by any means necessary. By turns hilarious and poignant, an adventure with spins into magic realism and beautifully evoked truths of loss and longing, Lily and the Octopus reminds us how it feels to love fiercely, how difficult it can be to let go, and how the fight for those we love is the greatest fight of all. Introducing a dazzling and completely original new voice in fiction and an unforgettable hound that will break your heart--and put it back together again. Remember the last book you told someone they had to read? Lily and the Octopus is the next one. "Startlingly imaginative...this love story is sure to assert its place in the canine lit pack...Be prepared for outright laughs and searing or silly moments of canine and human recognition. And grab a tissue: "THERE! WILL! BE! EYE! RAIN!" (New York Newsday).
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Details
- ISBN-13: 9781501126239
- ISBN-10: 1501126237
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster
- Publish Date: May 2017
- Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
- Shipping Weight: 0.6 pounds
- Page Count: 336
Related Categories
Book clubs: Finding comfort in art
Selected as a best book of the year by NPR and Newsweek, Olivia Laing’s The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone is a smart, compassionate work of nonfiction that probes the meaning of connection in the modern world. Laing moves to New York from England to be with her boyfriend. When their relationship ends, she’s left with feelings of displacement and defeat and finds solace in art. Over the course of the book, she considers the lives and creative practices of six masters whose works resonate with her solitary mindset, including Edward Hopper and Andy Warhol. Examining the links between everyday intimacy—or a lack thereof—and acts of creation, she writes with fluency and a sense of poeticism that suit her subject matter. Laing herself grew up in a troubled household with a mother who was secretly gay. She draws upon personal experiences, mixing memoir with art criticism and social history to produce a moving narrative that speaks to the current era.
LOVING AND LETTING GO
By turns humorous and heartbreaking, Steven Rowley’s debut novel, Lily and the Octopus, is a poignant portrayal of the enduring link between man and dog. Ted Flask is a struggling writer who lives in Los Angeles with Lily, a 12-year-old dachshund. Ted, who is single, has turned to the internet to meet other men. Lily is his constant companion, and in a narrative conceit that Rowley pulls off beautifully, the two are able to communicate (they play Monopoly and share pizza). When Lily is diagnosed with a brain tumor (the octopus of the book’s title), Ted is despondent. As Lily yields to her illness, he faces the fact that he will lose her. But he also comes to realize that he has hidden behind her in order to keep life—and other relationships—at a distance. Rowley, who lost his own dog, writes with tenderness and delicacy about the bond between canines and humans. Lily and the Octopus is a moving exploration of love and loss.
TOP PICK FOR BOOK CLUBS
In the powerful novel Mischling, Affinity Konar tells the story of 12-year-old sisters Stasha and Pearl, prisoners at Auschwitz who are subjected to Nazi doctor Josef Mengele’s inhumane experiments on twins. Close companions before their arrival at the camp, the sisters are separated at Auschwitz and suffer hideous punishments. After the war, when the camp is liberated, Pearl is looked after by Miri, a Jewish physician who was made to work as Mengele’s aide. Stasha, meanwhile, journeys through ravaged postwar Poland with a fellow twin named Feliks, driven by a desire to find Mengele and get revenge. Narrated in turns by Stasha and Pearl, this gripping novel is a beautifully rendered yet devastating narrative of survival. Konar’s chronicle of the twins’ experiences draws on factual accounts from the war. This is a bleak yet mesmerizing book that is sure to inspire dialogue among readers.
This article was originally published in the June 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.
Book clubs: Finding comfort in art
Selected as a best book of the year by NPR and Newsweek, Olivia Laing’s The Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being Alone is a smart, compassionate work of nonfiction that probes the meaning of connection in the modern world. Laing moves to New York from England to be with her boyfriend. When their relationship ends, she’s left with feelings of displacement and defeat and finds solace in art. Over the course of the book, she considers the lives and creative practices of six masters whose works resonate with her solitary mindset, including Edward Hopper and Andy Warhol. Examining the links between everyday intimacy—or a lack thereof—and acts of creation, she writes with fluency and a sense of poeticism that suit her subject matter. Laing herself grew up in a troubled household with a mother who was secretly gay. She draws upon personal experiences, mixing memoir with art criticism and social history to produce a moving narrative that speaks to the current era.
LOVING AND LETTING GO
By turns humorous and heartbreaking, Steven Rowley’s debut novel, Lily and the Octopus, is a poignant portrayal of the enduring link between man and dog. Ted Flask is a struggling writer who lives in Los Angeles with Lily, a 12-year-old dachshund. Ted, who is single, has turned to the internet to meet other men. Lily is his constant companion, and in a narrative conceit that Rowley pulls off beautifully, the two are able to communicate (they play Monopoly and share pizza). When Lily is diagnosed with a brain tumor (the octopus of the book’s title), Ted is despondent. As Lily yields to her illness, he faces the fact that he will lose her. But he also comes to realize that he has hidden behind her in order to keep life—and other relationships—at a distance. Rowley, who lost his own dog, writes with tenderness and delicacy about the bond between canines and humans. Lily and the Octopus is a moving exploration of love and loss.
TOP PICK FOR BOOK CLUBS
In the powerful novel Mischling, Affinity Konar tells the story of 12-year-old sisters Stasha and Pearl, prisoners at Auschwitz who are subjected to Nazi doctor Josef Mengele’s inhumane experiments on twins. Close companions before their arrival at the camp, the sisters are separated at Auschwitz and suffer hideous punishments. After the war, when the camp is liberated, Pearl is looked after by Miri, a Jewish physician who was made to work as Mengele’s aide. Stasha, meanwhile, journeys through ravaged postwar Poland with a fellow twin named Feliks, driven by a desire to find Mengele and get revenge. Narrated in turns by Stasha and Pearl, this gripping novel is a beautifully rendered yet devastating narrative of survival. Konar’s chronicle of the twins’ experiences draws on factual accounts from the war. This is a bleak yet mesmerizing book that is sure to inspire dialogue among readers.
This article was originally published in the June 2017 issue of BookPage. Download the entire issue for the Kindle or Nook.