Census
(Book)
Author:
Published:
New York, NY : Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, [2018].
Physical Desc:
ix, 241 pages : illustrations ; 22 cm
Status:
Description
After a devastating revelation, a father and son journey across a tapestry of towns in award–winning author Jesse Ball's thought-provoking novel Census.
When a widower learns he doesn't have long left to live, he wonders who will care for his adult son whom he fiercely loves—a son with Down syndrome. With no recourse in mind and a desire to see the country, the man becomes a census taker for a mysterious governmental bureau and takes his son on the trip.
Traveling into the country, through towns named only by ascending letters of the alphabet, father and son encounter a wide range of human experience. While some townspeople welcome them into their homes, others who bear the physical brand of past censuses on their ribs are wary of their presence. Pressing toward the edges of civilization, the landscape grows wilder, and the towns grow farther apart and more blighted by industrial decay. As they approach "Z," the man confronts a series of questions: What is the purpose of the census? Is he complicit in its mission? And just how will he learn to say good-bye to his son?
Mysterious and evocative, Census is a novel about free will, grief, the power of memory, and the ferocity of parental love.
"A vital testament to selfless love; a psalm to commonplace miracles; and a mysterious evolving metaphor. So kind, it aches." —David Mitchell
"[Jesse Ball] has combined Kafka's paranoia with Whitman's earnest American grain to found a fictional kingdom of genial doom and melancholia." —New York Times
"Truly otherworldly writing in the best ways that Borges and Calvino have shown to be possible." —Forbes
When a widower learns he doesn't have long left to live, he wonders who will care for his adult son whom he fiercely loves—a son with Down syndrome. With no recourse in mind and a desire to see the country, the man becomes a census taker for a mysterious governmental bureau and takes his son on the trip.
Traveling into the country, through towns named only by ascending letters of the alphabet, father and son encounter a wide range of human experience. While some townspeople welcome them into their homes, others who bear the physical brand of past censuses on their ribs are wary of their presence. Pressing toward the edges of civilization, the landscape grows wilder, and the towns grow farther apart and more blighted by industrial decay. As they approach "Z," the man confronts a series of questions: What is the purpose of the census? Is he complicit in its mission? And just how will he learn to say good-bye to his son?
Mysterious and evocative, Census is a novel about free will, grief, the power of memory, and the ferocity of parental love.
"A vital testament to selfless love; a psalm to commonplace miracles; and a mysterious evolving metaphor. So kind, it aches." —David Mitchell
"[Jesse Ball] has combined Kafka's paranoia with Whitman's earnest American grain to found a fictional kingdom of genial doom and melancholia." —New York Times
"Truly otherworldly writing in the best ways that Borges and Calvino have shown to be possible." —Forbes
Copies
Location
Call Number
Status
Arden-Dimick
FICTION Ball, J.
On Shelf
Carmichael
FICTION Ball, J.
On Shelf
Central
FICTION Ball, J.
On Shelf
Galt
FICTION Ball, J.
On Shelf
North Highlands-Antelope
FICTION Ball, J.
On Shelf
Pocket-Greenhaven
FICTION Ball, J.
On Shelf
Location
Call Number
Status
Colusa Main Branch Adult Collection
Fic
On Shelf
Folsom Adult
FICTION Ball, J.
On Shelf
Sutter County Main Branch
FICTION Ball, J.
On Shelf
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More Details
Format:
Book
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780062676139
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)
Ball, J. (2018). Census. New York, NY, Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)Ball, Jesse, 1978-. 2018. Census. New York, NY, Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)Ball, Jesse, 1978-, Census. New York, NY, Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2018.
MLA Citation (style guide)Ball, Jesse. Census. New York, NY, Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, 2018.
Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
Staff View
Grouped Work ID:
dc96a827-6169-b0c0-b9d4-24e7e31b5758
Record Information
Last Sierra Extract Time | Apr 10, 2024 08:36:38 PM |
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Last File Modification Time | Apr 10, 2024 08:37:20 PM |
Last Grouped Work Modification Time | Apr 18, 2024 02:10:20 AM |
MARC Record
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