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Death Valley

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Death Valley

By: Melissa Broder
Narrated by: Melissa Broder
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About this listen

Bloomsbury presents Death Valley written and read by Melissa Broder.

‘Riotously original ... A triumph’ NEW YORK TIMES

‘A journey unlike any you've read before’ NANA KWAME ADJEI-BRENYAH

‘Her most profound book yet ... Surreal, hysterical and beguiling in every sense’ GLAMOUR

The most profound book yet from the visionary author of Milk Fed and The Pisces, a darkly funny novel about grief that becomes a desert survival story.

A woman arrives alone at a Best Western seeking respite from an emptiness that plagues her. She has fled to the California high desert to escape a cloud of sorrow — for both her father in the ICU and a husband whose illness is worsening. What the motel provides, however, is not peace but a path, thanks to a receptionist who recommends a nearby hike.

Out on the sun-scorched trail, the woman encounters a towering cactus whose size and shape mean it should not exist in California. Yet the cactus is there, with a gash through its side that beckons like a familiar door. So she enters it. What awaits her inside this mystical succulent sets her on a journey at once desolate and rich, hilarious and poignant.

This is Melissa Broder at her most imaginative, most universal, and finest. This is Death Valley.

PRAISE FOR THE PISCES

'Of all the books that I read this summer I think this was my absolute favourite. It really blew me away' DOLLY ALDERTON
'Frank, provocative and brilliant' INDEPENDENT
'Hilarious, poignant, sexy. A brilliant story about why we crave connection and how to find ourselves' ELLE
'Laugh-out-loud funny' i©2023 Melissa Broder (P)2023 Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Fiction Literary Fiction Metaphysical & Visionary Witty Funny California
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What listeners say about Death Valley

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

A surreal and lyrical journey

Brilliantly read. I love everything Melissa writes and this was as thought provoking, strange and wonderful as I hoped it would be.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Fabulously odd

Really enjoyed this book - it's not perfect, but still a bright fun thing. will definitely seek out more from the author

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Utterly absurd and brilliant

I had this preordered for months and it didn’t disappoint. The narrative of a woman lost in the desert interwoven with the fear of loss was so well executed, and took the theme of bereavement to a new place.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Hot desert on desert action.

Funny, relatable, profoundish (and no other descriptive words but at least past the minimum of fifteen).

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Weird!

I wonder what the author is on! The strangest book ever, and I really didn’t understand one part of it

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Repetitive mess

I gave up listening. Uninspired and quite frankly boring. It has potential but is painfully predictable and repetitive. I don’t need to hear “my father the baby” or “my father the teen” ever again, lest I tear my hair out.

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