Joe Mungo Reed

This book focuses on several generations of one family as climate change makes earth uninhabitable and humans set out for other worlds. That makes it sound like a very dramatic book, but it is actually very slow and contemplative. Instead of directly telling the story of catastrophe and response, the book mostly focuses on quiet moments in people's lives. If this were a movie, it would have a lush soundtrack and there would be a lot of wide shots of people standing by the oceanside or show more staring out the window of a spaceship. This focus on individuals and their inner worlds is a wonderful way to ground the story. Even people who dramatically change the world just go through their daily lives, focusing on their own personal dramas of relationships and grant funding.

There are a lot of characters, and it took some concentration to keep them all straight - this might have been more difficult in the audiobook than it would have been on paper. There are a lot of threads in the book that finally come together in the end in a way that is both very satisfying and also leaves the reader a bit uncertain. show less

A score from NetGalley and an honor to read this pre-published book. I absolutely loved it. Reed's prose is beautiful - so beautiful that he held my interest on a topic I have NEVER been interested in (road race bicycling); the topic drove the book while simultaneously being a metaphor for human relationships, for choices we make in life, for marriage and parenthood, and Reed's particular way of portraying human behavior is perceptive and perfectly described without being flowery. Well done, show more especially for a first book. Very well done. show less

I grew up in a family that enjoyed bicycling and often the only times our cable package was upgraded was to watch the Tour de France each summer. This novel brings back a lot of those memories. It's narrated by one of the cyclists in the tour, not one of the leaders, but a teammate who is expected to anything to help his leader win, including taking drugs. As the narrator reflects on his life and his family, one starts to think he may be ready to turn over a new leaf in his life, but the show more stakes just keep getting higher and his wife becomes embroiled in the team's doping activities. An interesting read, that makes one think of all the cycling headlines of the past two decades. show less

There was a time in my life (from the mid-80s with the rise of Greg LeMond through the early 2000s and the fall of Lance Armstrong) that I was really into
The Tour de France and pro cycling. I knew all the cyclists and watched the tour as best I could on TV and online. I followed the other big European races and was lucky enough to watch the US Pro Champs here in Philadelphia. I was fascinated by the strategy and how close this race could be. I also knew and understood how difficult it was so show more doping, while disappointing, also seemed inevitable.

All this to say, I am the perfect audience for this book, I understand the life of a domestique and I really enjoyed being inside Sol’s head. I’m also a distance runner so I understand a little about personal, physical suffering for sports.

I’m not sure how this quiet, slow moving story would work for one who doesn’t already understand this world but for me it was just great. show less