Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Jul 2014
384 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
A searing novel about two friends on opposite sides of the law, from the author of Rust and Bone, "a writer of immense power" (Peter Straub)
On the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, life beyond the tourist trade isn't easy. Locals like Duncan Diggs and Owen Stuckey have few chances to leave. For Duncan, that means shift work on a production line. For Owen, it means pinning it all on a shot at college basketball. But they should know better; they've been unlucky before. As boys, they were abducted and abandoned in the woods. Though they made it out alive, the memory of that time won't fade. Over the years they drift apart, but when Duncan is drawn into a chaotic world of bare-knuckle fighting and other shady dealings, Owen, now a cop, can't look the other way any longer. Together, they'll be forced to survive the wilderness once more as their friendship is pushed to the limit in Cataract City, a white-hot novel by the rising star Craig Davidson.
"Starred Review. Davidson takes a few small missteps... [but] the characters, audacious sweep of the story, and propulsive noir writing make this novel a standout." - Publishes Weekly
"Starred Review. A swiftly told, matter-of-fact unfolding of lives threatening to derail, this Scotiabank Giller Prize finalist will be appreciated by most fiction readers." - Library Journal
"Davidson smudges the line between comedy and horror, cruelty and mercy. His remarkable stories are challenging and upsetting. Don't look for comfort here." - Chuck Palahniuk
"Craig Davidson's sentences flash like punches, clean and fast and brutally beautiful, and within a few pages you'll find yourself off-balance and cornered, unable to defend yourself, bruised by this gripping, dangerous knockout of a novel about a town and a friendship divided." - Benjamin Percy, author of Red Moon and The Wilding
"Craig Davidson asks - and answers - some big, uncomfortable questions about the nature of our humanity." - Irvine Welsh
This information about Cataract City 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.
Craig Davidson is the author of Rust and Bone, which was made into a critically acclaimed film; Sarah Court; and The Fighter. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and his work has appeared in Esquire, GQ, and The Washington Post. He lives in Toronto.
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