Description

With wry humour and real freshness, SNAPPER charts the disastrous love affair between career birdwatcher Nathan Lochmueller and the place that made him.

Nathan Lochmueller studies birds, for just enough money to scrape a living. He drives a glitter-festooned truck, the Gypsy Moth, and is in love with the enigmatic and free-spirited Lola. Around them swirls a remarkable cast of characters: the proprietor of Fast Eddie’s burgers, the genius behind ‘Thong Thursdays’, a snapping turtle with a taste for thumbs and a German Shepherd who howls backing vocals. As he creeps through the undergrowth observing the birds he loves, Nathan must come to terms with the occasionally absurd turns his life has taken, and grapple with the dilemma that faces every small-town boy: should he stay, or should he go?

Publisher Review

Superb... always engaging, sometimes beautiful and often funny' * Telegraph * Captivating... Snapper could do for birdwatchers what Annie Proulx did for small-town newspaper reporters and cowboys * Independent on Sunday * Funny and adroit fiction -- Margaret Atwood, via Twitter Delightfully entertaining * Esquire * Brilliant... an absolute joy of a book. I predict big things for it -- Scott Pack, Me and My Big Mouth Brimming with unusual characters and hilarious idisoyncracies... Kimberling shows much promise * Shortlist * Fascinating and captivating * Washington Post * Funny and absorbing' * Booklist * [The] coolest of cool... a quirky and memorable debut * Guardian * 'Lyrical, comic and packed with piercing descriptions... at the same time as being down-to-earth and humorous, Snapper is suffused with a certain melancholy, and it is Kimberling's expert balancing of all these elements that allows the novel's insights - into who we are and where we come from - to hit home' * Observer *