The Vast Fields of Ordinary

by Nick Burd

Overview

It's Dade's last summer at home, and things are pretty hopeless. He has a crappy job, a "boyfriend" who treats him like dirt, and his parents' marriage is falling apart. So when he meets and falls in love with the mysterious Alex Kincaid, Dade feels like he's finally experiencing true happiness. But when a tragedy shatters the final days of summer, he realizes he must face his future and learn how to move forward from his past.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780142418208
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	03/17/2011
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Nick Burd attended the University of Iowa and received his MFA from The New School. He lives in Brooklyn, New York. The Vast Fields of Ordinary is his first novel.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"A fascinating and dreamy first novel." -New York Times

"Bold. Engaging. Heartbreaking." -Ellen Hopkins, New York Times bestselling author of Crank

"A brilliant account of alienation and angst in the heartland." -Quest Magazine

"Nick Burd reaps a bounty from The Vast Fields of Ordinary." -Vanity Fair

"Burd is a terrific writer+he is a new talent to watch." -Booklist, starred review

Editorial Reviews

…fascinating and dreamy…The Vast Fields of Ordinary reads like the best kind of first novel—it's packed with insights that might have been carried around for years, just waiting to come out.
—The New York Times

Ned Vizzini

Trapped in a suburban wasteland the summer before his first year in college, closeted indie loser Dade Hamilton is stuck in the middle of his parents' disintegrating marriage and wastes his time pining after his girlfriend-ed hook-up-buddy Pablo. That is, until he spots dreamy, drug-dealing Alex Kincaid at a party, and the summer explodes into a lusty haze of blazing romance, pot smoke and danger. Burd breathes new life into the old coming-out formula with a blast of 21st-century testosterone-injected anger, heaps of longing and insecurity and even some violence. His carefully drawn characterizations and raw tone make the drama of Dade's life feel urgent and very real. The allure of the illicit, decay and regret are only a few of the irresistibly dangerous themes woven into the mix, and readers will watch in rapt fascination and dread as Alex draws a willing Dade into his dark world. The results of their pairing aren't exactly pretty, but they're honest. One of the best in a new generation of LGBTQ novels, it can stand alongside Peter Cameron's and Brian Sloan's. (Fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews