A captivating novel about free will, grief, the power of memory and the ferocity of parental love.
Jesse Ball (1978–). Novelist, absurdist. Born in New York. His many and varied works are beloved in a dozen languages.
‘A young genius who hits all of the right notes.’
*Chicago Tribune*
‘Jesse Ball [is] among our most compelling and daring writers
today.’
*LA Review of Books*
‘Census is a vital testament to selfless love; a psalm to
commonplace miracles; and a mysterious evolving metaphor. So kind,
it aches.’
*David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas*
‘Census, Ball’s new work, [is] his most personal and best to
date...Think The Road by Cormac McCarthy with Ball’s signature
surreal flourishes.’
*New York Times*
‘A poet by trade, Ball understands the economy of language better
than most fiction writers today.’
*Huffington Post*
'Explore with Ball, fall into his quirky rhythms, and you’ll
discover a burning plea for empathy. It will break your heart.'
*Entertainment Weekly, B+*
‘Ball indulges our natural curiosity about what’s real and
simultaneously repudiates the idea that it matters. This is a
writer too interested in the transformative power of language to
come down on one banal side or the other.’
*Age*
'This novel is a devastatingly powerful call for understanding and
compassion.'
*Publishers Weekly: Picks of the Week*
'Some books resonate more deeply than others; they don’t merely
reflect the world we’re presented with, but instead they
refashioned it, even warp it, revealing essential truths. Ball’s
poignant dedication to his late older brother Adam, who had Down
syndrome, adds yet another layer of complexity to this surreal and
powerful story.'
*Esquire: Best Books of 2018 (So Far)*
'Census is an odd, poignant, vitalizing novel well worth the
journey.'
*La Review of Books Review: “Aches and Joys on the Long Road of
Life by Ramsey Mathews”*
‘An understated feat, a book that says more than enough simply by
saying, “Look, this is how some people are.”’
*Washington Post*
'This is a book that will give you an expanded sense of what it
means to have compassion, and what it means to love.'
*Nylon: 10 Great Books To Read This March*
'Absorbing, reflective and deeply moving, Census is the most
necessary kind of book — one that urges us to see and feel with all
the wonder that the world deserves.'
*The Outline*
'What could be a sentimental or treacly parable Ball transforms
into a thrilling, imaginative work that explores both the limits
and powers of language and empathy.'
*National Book Review: Hot Books This Week*
'What’s impressive about Jesse Ball is not just how prolific he
is—and he’s most certainly that; he is not yet 40 and has written
14 books, including six novels, since 2004—but how good and, more
importantly, human his works are. The author consistently crafts
high-concept fabulist tales with sensitivity and quiet poetry.'
*A.V. Club*
'There are glimpses in here of The Road and of the zany travels in
Italo Calvino’s Invisible Cities, but in a style that is Ball’s
very own. Census is the phantasmagoric road trip that breaks your
heart in more ways than one and leaves you all the better for
it.'
*Book People Blog*
'It’s an emotional book that honors Jesse Ball’s own brother, who
had Down syndrome and passed away 20 years ago.'
*Hello Giggles*
‘Census is a deeply humane and tender novel, brimming with
compassion, deep and original though, sweetness and, yes, even
humour…An astoundingly good book.’
*Bram Presser*
‘I defy anyone not to read its final pages through tears.’
*Daily Mail UK*
‘A dying man and his disabled son travel as census takers in Jesse
Ball’s thoughtful, dystopian-influenced novel. Written in part as
an ode to the author’s late brother, the book explores the human
experience for both caretakers and the people who crave care, as
the duo traverses the country tabulating and tattooing citizens for
a mysterious government agency.’
*Harper’s Bazaar, 18 New Books You Need To Read in March*
‘In a world beset by untrustworthy government leaders, a book about
a mysterious government bureau keeping track of a nation’s
population feels both terrifying and completely within the real of
possibility. And that’s exactly what I felt when reading Jesse
Ball’s strange and wonderful new novel, Census…A melancholy and
grief-filled book, Census also serves a healthy helping of
compassion. I highly recommend it for fans of Paul Auster and
Samantha Hunt.’
*LitHub, 15 Books You Should Read This Month*
‘A powerful meditation on grief, weaving a father-son tale that
proves as captivating as it is haunting.’
*Paste Magazine, 10 of the Best Books of March 2018*
‘A powerful and moving new novel.’
*Chicago Review of Books, Best New Books of March 2018*
‘Emotionally riveting and shot through with the most pressing
issues of our time, Ball’s exploration of humanity in modern
America is not to be missed.’
*Pop Sugar, 20 Best New Books to Read in March*
‘An understated feat, a book that says more than enough simply by
saying, “look, this is how some people are.”’
*Washington Post*
‘Ball takes us on a dark journey into a troubled world, where the
census taker leaves a tattoo on each individual’s rib…He ends with
a heartbreaking farewell: the future, the father sees, is “his, and
not mine.”’
*BBC, Ten Books to Read in March*
‘Each new book from Jesse Ball reveals a new facet of his abilities
as a writer; each one takes bold structural risks even as it
ventures into heart-rending territories.’
*Vol. 1 Brooklyn*
‘Census is a novel about everything big, told in the miniature,
heart-wrenching tableau of a census. We are grazed by the notion
that something is a bit different in this world, breathing down our
necks. These characters jump from the page into life, and a
transformative journey is undertaken for both the reader and the
characters.’
*Nashville Arts*
‘Holds questions at every turn.’
*Bustle, 15 Best Fiction Books of March 2018*
‘Absorbing, reflective and deeply moving, Census is the most
necessary kind of book—one that urges us to see and feel with all
the wonder that the world deserves.’
*Outline*
‘What could be a sentimental or treacly parable Ball transforms
into a thrilling, imaginative work that explores both the limits
and powers of language and empathy.’
*National Book Review*
‘His [Ball’s] latest mysterious, mesmerising, and insightful fairy
tale is an imaginative and tender tribute to his late brother, who
had Down syndrome…Ball’s mind-bending, gorgeously well told, and
profoundly moving fable celebrates a father’s love for his son,
whose quintessence is to inspire people to be their better
selves.’
*Booklist, starred review*
‘Census, Ball’s eighth and latest novel, may be his most
emotionally affecting book to date...a profound and stirring
meditation on love, loss and paternity.’
*New York Times*
‘Census is the phantasmagoric road trip that breaks your heart in
more ways than one and leaves you all the better for it.’
*BookPeople*
‘A beautiful story of two people trying to make their way through a
world that is sometimes cruel or indifferent to beauty.’
*Catherine Lacey*
‘A detailed and moving portrayal of a kind of radical innocence,
one that brings both the cruelty and the kindness in the world
around it into sharp focus. For me, it was the most powerful of the
many surprises in this unusual, impressive novel.’
*Guardian*
‘An absurdist metaphysical parable, reminiscent of Beckett, Kafka,
or Calvino…[Ball] is one of America’s most interesting high-concept
voices.’
*Australian Book Review*
‘A wonderfully moving tribute to an obviously loved sibling.’
*BookMooch*
‘Its hopefulness is endearing, its purity shines…warrants a
re-read.’
*Bookmunch*
‘He is skilfully rendered; observed through the eyes of his father,
who is deeply attuned to his son’s moods and tendencies […] There
is nothing condescending in how father describes son. It is joyful,
honest, funny, smart. Again, I returned to the foreword, and
considered how magnificently Ball celebrates his brother’s
memory.’
*Lifted Brow*
‘Part epic poem, part family history; Ball has crafted something
unique and enduring.’
*Otago Daily Times*
‘A novel you feel you want to get a grip on before it gets a grip
on you.’
*Dear Reader*
‘Quietly moving.’
*Australian*
‘Intimate and dislocated and funny and sad and like nothing else I
have read before.'
*New Statesman (Best Books of 2018)*
‘A luminous, fictional tribute.’
*New Zealand Listener (Best Books of 2018,)*
'Jesse Ball has written a beautiful road trip novel, yes, but it is
also so much more...This is a book that will give you an expanded
sense of what it means to have compassion, and what it means to
love.’
*Best Books of 2018, Nylon*
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