The Heavenly Table

A Novel

By: Donald Ray Pollock

Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne

From Donald Ray Pollock, author of the highly acclaimed The Devil All the Time and Knockemstiff, comes a dark, gritty, electrifying (and, disturbingly, weirdly funny) new novel that will solidify his place among the best contemporary American authors.

It is 1917, in that sliver of border land that divides Georgia from Alabama. Dispossessed farmer Pearl Jewett ekes out a hardscrabble existence with his three young sons: Cane (the eldest; handsome; intelligent); Cob (short; heavy set; a bit slow); and Chimney (the youngest; thin; ill-tempered). Several hundred miles away in southern Ohio, a farmer by the name of Ellsworth Fiddler lives with his son, Eddie, and his wife, Eula. After Ellsworth is swindled out of his family's entire fortune, his life is put on a surprising, unforgettable, and violent trajectory that will directly lead him to cross paths with the Jewetts. No good can come of it. Or can it?

In the gothic tradition of Flannery O'Connor and Cormac McCarthy with a healthy dose of cinematic violence reminiscent of Sam Peckinpah, Quentin Tarantino and the Coen Brothers, the Jewetts and the Fiddlers will find their lives colliding in increasingly dark and horrific ways, placing Donald Ray Pollock firmly in the company of the genre's literary masters.

Hard to Categorize

Once again, Donald Ray Pollock hits it out of the park with a truly great book. The writing itself is first rate. Those of us who fully appreciated "The Devil All the Time," will not be disappointed at all. The same high quality writing and dark and unpredictable story is here as well. The book itself is hard to categorize, I call it Southern gothic when I recommend it, but this is not a book for the faint of heart or someone looking for a lighter and more predictable read.

Reminded me of a Robert Altman film

It is a fun read, but there is not really a strong central narrative to bring everything together. Characters are introduced one after the other, described in detail like they are part of a writing exercise, and then drift in and out like celebrities adlibbing their way through a Robert Altman film. Sometimes that works, and sometimes it feels interesting but a little weak.

Great story!

Very engaging story with excellent characters and narrator. Would highly recommend this book to anyone

good book

this was a very good book left u hanging at the end but overall good!!!!

Another Punch of Pollock!

Like chewing dirt. Pollock's still angry, bizarre, violent, raw, raunchy, and darkly hilarious. He writes like he sold his soul to the devil for the gift, and his stories feel like they should be read in the back rooms of dens of iniquity then slept off for months. I've been hooked since [Knockemstiff], unable to kick the Pollock habit. It's not as tight as his previous, but it's still decadently twisted and addictive. The only reason I'm withholding that 5th * is to hold onto what's left of my female dignity and feign consternation. (And, as good as it might be, I have to compare to his previous humdingers.) Pollock is granite, unchanging and unapologetic. Pollock fans rejoice...newcomers to DRP, you've been warned.