The Dive From Clausen's Pier by Ann Packer audiobook

The Dive From Clausen's Pier

By Ann Packer
Read by Scarlett Johansson

Random House Audio
5.13 Hours Abridged
Format : Digital Download (In Stock)
  • $12.50
    or 1 Credit

    ISBN: 9780553755572

A suspenseful, richly layered first novel that asks: How much do we owe the people we love? THE DIVE FROM CLAUSEN'S PIER will speak to all those who have ever thought about leaving when they knew they should stay, anyone who has ever felt trapped, not only by circumstance, but by the strength of their own love, Carrie Bell has lived in Wisconsin all her life. She's had the same best friend, the same good relationship with her mother, the same boyfriend, for as long as anyone can remember. But when her fiance, Mike is paralyzed by a tragic accident, Carrie has to question everything she thought she knew about herself and about the meaning of home. Ann Packer has written a morally complex, deeply satisfying novel about the desire to live fully and the conflict between who we want to be to others and who we must be for ourselves. A magnificent debut from a remarkable new talent.

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Summary

Summary

A New York Times bestseller

Winner of a 2003 YALSA Alex Award

A 2002 New York Times Book Review Notable Book

A USA Today bestseller

A New York Public Library Book for Teens

Winner of Alex Award - YALSA, 2003

Winner of Alex Award - YALSA, 2003

A suspenseful, richly layered first novel that asks: How much do we owe the people we love?

THE DIVE FROM CLAUSEN'S PIER will speak to all those who have ever thought about leaving when they knew they should stay, anyone who has ever felt trapped, not only by circumstance, but by the strength of their own love, Carrie Bell has lived in Wisconsin all her life. She's had the same best friend, the same good relationship with her mother, the same boyfriend, for as long as anyone can remember. But when her fiance, Mike is paralyzed by a tragic accident, Carrie has to question everything she thought she knew about herself and about the meaning of home.

Ann Packer has written a morally complex, deeply satisfying novel about the desire to live fully and the conflict between who we want to be to others and who we must be for ourselves. A magnificent debut from a remarkable new talent.

Editorial Reviews

Editorial Reviews

“Packer knows just how to make a story build: the novel reveals a sure sense of pace and pitch, a brilliant ear for character…A searching emotional generosity.” New York Times Book Review
“Intricately detailed, deeply felt, compelling, and utterly surprising…Wonderfully satisfying.” Boston Globe
“Multilayered…Absolutely credible and quite surprising.” Seattle Times
“Ambitious…Both a colorful chronicle of life in Wisconsin and New York City…and a serious, moving meditation on the nature of love and of loyalty.” Glamour
“Packer’s novel explores how life itself can confront ordinary human beings with daunting moral dilemmas.” USA Today
“Impressive…Packer skillfully distills broad themes into small, personal moments…A thoughtful and satisfying examination of duty and personal integrity.” Time Out New York
“[The Dive from Clausen’s Pier] has an affinity with the work of Rosellen Brown…and Anne Tyler…Packer writes with a rare density of detail and ideas, and it’s just possible that the reader will be wiser at the end of the book than she was at the beginning.” Newsday
“One of those small miracles that reinforce our faith in fiction. It does what the best novels so often do, making the largest things visible by its perfect rendering of life on the smaller scale. It is witty, tragic, and touching, and beguiling.” Scott Turow
“Gracefully written and provocative…An elegant book.” Washington Post Book World
“A graceful writer…A quietly provocative novel…Packer has a wonderfully optimistic yet realistic view of humanity.” Chicago Tribube
“An intricately detailed, deeply felt, compelling, and ultimately surprising portrait of a young woman facing an unbearable loss…Surprisingly suspenseful…By the end of this wonderfully satisfying novel, it’s clear why Carrie is too complex a character to take the easy way out.” San Francisco Chronicle
“[Packer] plays the slower rhythms of Madison against the Broadway boogie-woogie of Manhattan to great effect.” Economist
“A winning debut novel.” Vogue
“Remarkably assured, utterly winning…Packer’s characters scramble up…as terrifically physical beings, so well does she describe them.” Miami Herald
“Rich with characters and restrained in its language, Packer’s novel is, first and foremost, a great story.” Minneapolis Star-Tribune
“Packer knows just where she wants to take us…[and] the journey is worth taking.” Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
The novels it calls most to mind. . . . are Allegra Goodman's 'Kaaterskill Falls' and Sue Miller's 'The Good Mother'. . . .its most admirable trait -- and surely the one that will define Packer's future work -- is its moral authenticity. Gail Caldwell, Boston Globe
The Dive from Clausen's Pier is one of those small miracles that reinforce our faith in fiction. It does what the best novels so often do, making the largest things visible by its perfect rendering of life on the smaller scale. It is witty, tragic and touching, and beguiling from the first page. Scott Turow
A reflective and probing first novel...there's not a false note in the story's tentative resolution, which thwarts our initial expectations in order to satisfy more complex demands...Very fine fiction indeed. Kirkus Reviews
This is the sort of book one reads dying to know what happens to the characters, but loves for its wisdom: it sees the world with more clarity than you do. Publishers Weekly
Ann Packer’s first novel has all the weight of reality, tooled with a jeweler’s precision. The Dive from Clausen's Pier is a poignant and painstakingly rendered account of a woman in flight from catastrophe, in search of herself. Madison Smartt Bell

Reviews

Reviews

Author

Author Bio: Ann Packer

Author Bio: Ann Packer

Ann Packer is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Songs Without Words and The Dive from Clausen’s Pier, the latter of which received a Great Lakes Book Award, an American Library Association Award, and the Kate Chopin Literary Award. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in the New Yorker, the Washington Post, Vogue, and Real Simple. She lives in northern California with her family.

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Details

Details

Available Formats : Digital Download
Runtime: 5.13
Audience: Adult
Language: English