-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
Paperback original.
There is a town that brews a strange intoxicant from a rare fruit called the deathberry—and once a year a handful of citizens are selected to drink it. . . .
There is a life lived beneath the water—among rotted buildings and bloated corpses—by those so overburdened by the world's demands that they simply give up and go under. . . .
In this mesmerizing blend of the familiar and the fantastic, multiple award-winning New York Times notable author Jeffrey Ford creates true wonders and infuses the mundane with magic. In tales marked by his distinctive, dark imagery and fluid, exhilarating prose, he conjures up an annual gale that transforms the real into the impossible, invents a strange scribble that secretly unites a significant portion of society, and spins the myriad dreams of a restless astronaut and his alien lover. Bizarre, beautiful, unsettling, and sublime, The Drowned Life showcases the exceptional talents of one of contemporary fiction's most original artists.
"Readers of all stripes should be able to find something here to love." - Publishers Weekly.
"Sometimes shocking, sometimes mesmerizing, sometimes humorous, this collection will please fans of Raymond Carver and Flannery O'Connor." - Library Journal.
"Impressive eclecticism, enhanced by the pleasures of quietly quirky prose." - Kirkus Reviews.
This information about The Drowned Life (P.S.) was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Jeffrey Ford was born November 8, 1955 in West Islip, New York. His acclaimed and award-winning novels include The Shadow Year, The Physiognomy, The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque, and The Girl in the Glass. His short fiction has appeared in numerous journals, magazines and anthologies, from MAD Magazine to The Oxford Book of American Short Stories.
A former professor of writing and early American literature, Ford now writes full-time in Ohio, where he lives with his wife.
If you liked The Drowned Life (P.S.), try these:
by Rita Bullwinkel
Published 2025
An electrifying debut novel from an "unusually gifted writer" (Lorrie Moore) about the radical intimacy of physical competition
by Sarah Penner
Published 2022
A forgotten history. A secret network of women. A legacy of poison and revenge. Welcome to The Lost Apothecary.
by Edward Carey
Published 2019
The wry, macabre, unforgettable tale of an ambitious orphan in Revolutionary Paris, befriended by royalty and radicals, who transforms herself into the legendary Madame Tussaud.
Theo of Golden by Allen Levi
One spring morning, a stranger arrives in the small southern city of Golden. No one knows where he has come from…or why…
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
