Waiting for Eden

A novel

By: Elliot Ackerman

Narrated by: MacLeod Andrews

“Patiently, and unflinchingly, Ackerman is becoming one of the great poet laureates of America’s tragic adventurism across the globe.” —Pico Iyer

Eden lies in a hospital bed, unable to move or speak. His wife Mary spends every day on the sofa in his room. We see them through the eyes of Eden’s best friend, a fellow Marine who didn’t make it back home—and who must relive the secrets held between all three of them as he waits for Eden to finally, mercifully die and join him in whatever comes after.

A breathtakingly spare and shattering novel that explores the unseen aftereffects—and unacknowledged casualties—of war, Waiting for Eden is a piercingly insightful, deeply felt meditation on loyalty, friendship, betrayal, and love.

“The Tim O’Brien of our era.” —Vogue

“Devastating.” —The Wall Street Journal

“Haunting. . . . Daring.” —The Boston Globe

“Heart-wrenching.” —NPR

Strap yourself in for this...

Heartbreakingly beautiful. I finished this in several hours throughout the day. I am awed by the beauty and intensity of this story. It's pure love on every level. It will remain with me for a long time, perhaps forever.

Tragic but beautiful

Waiting for Eden is a magnificent book. It’s definitely a bit dark and saddening at times, but it’s so well written, you have to appreciate the sorrow. The book is about a wounded soldier on deaths door, as complications arise between his soon to be widow, and another soldier who was friends with the dying man. From there things unravel slowly, yet poetically, and each character is struggling and flawed in unique ways. For a short book, you get everything you want out of a novel.

Amazing story

Well performed
A tale of love, seeming betrayal, unexpected events, brought tears to my eyes

a master work

Brilliant and unlike anything I have ever read in terms of its story, its form, each nuance it shapes, each word it crafts.

Mesmerizing

I thought The hypnotic drone of Macleod Andrews would drive me crazy but it so fit the tone and mood of Ackerman’s brilliant writing that I was mesmerized throughout. I Consumed entire story in one sitting. Reminded me of Tolstoy’s Death of Ivan Ilyich. Tough stuff but worth the pain.