The Longitude of Grief

<p><strong>Daddona's immersive debut is both a coming-of-age story and a portrait of a community...There are big ideas aplenty in here-and some bleak moments of moral horror as well. A philosophical intentionally digressive exploration of masculinity toxic and otherwise. </strong></p><p><strong>-Kirkus Reviews</strong></p><p><strong style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)><em> </em></strong></p><p><span style=color: rgba(34 34 34 1)>Henry Manero wants to grow up. But growing up is seldom the same as moving on. In this poetic and at times philosophical coming-of-age novel Henry must learn to navigate his inherited guilt and trauma alongside several generations of dispirited loners-among them his absent father suffering mother three wild cousins and bumbling stepfather</span><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>. When Henry befriends an elderly man Josef whose sagaciousness presents new possibilities in life he wonders if he can escape the trappings of his small town and of his own mind. Will Henry achieve a newfound sense of self with the help of Josef or is Josef yet another false star in a constellation of malevolent men with which Henry is surrounded? </span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> </span></p><p><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Combining the lyricism of Justin Torres' </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>We the Animals</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> with the kaleidoscopic visions of boyhood in David Mitchell's </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>Black Swan Green</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> Matthew Daddona's debut novel </span><em style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)>The Longitude of Grief</em><span style=color: rgba(0 0 0 1)> is a tender rumination on the familial bonds that entangle and entrance us all. </span></p>