Blending Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance with Emily St. John Mandel’s Station Eleven, this is the propulsive story of a battle-scarred survivor on a desperate, postapocalyptic road trip.
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“This epic journey through a near-future, postapocalyptic landscape blends extreme suspense with serene meditation. . . . Groner offers a contemplative take on the postapocalyptic genre that leaves room for hope but doesn’t stint on realism. This novel reads like Cormac McCarthy’s The Road meets Robert M. Pirsig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.”—Library Journal (starred review)
“The novel blends action with deep philosophical reflections, offering a hopeful perspective on life after disaster. Perfect for fans of Station Eleven and Oryx and Crake, The Way is a triumphant success.”—Booklist
“Groner paints a persuasive picture of his dystopian world, peopled with strong characters and driven by cinematic action. This reinvigorates an overworked genre.”—Publishers Weekly
“Not many writers could match the marvelous, imaginative achievement of The Way. Groner creates a postapocalyptic world that is frighteningly believable and populates it with finely drawn characters—both gracious and wicked—whose capacity for love, hope, and cruelty mirrors what we encounter in our real, present world. Part page-turner, part love story, partly a plea for respect of both human and animal life, The Way heightened my appreciation for what I too often take for granted.”—Roland Merullo, author of Breakfast with Buddha
“A thrilling, life-affirming adventure, The Way is a bold blend of a post-apocalyptic scorched earth, ancient Buddhism, and interspecies relationships—all packed into a tightly woven story of horror, hope, and love.”—Katie Hafner, author of The Boys
“Part survival story, part grimoire, The Way is a magical book. Groner is a master storyteller. His glorious, enchanting prose cast a spell on me from the bleak beginnings of his postapocalyptic tale until its symphonic conclusion. In the end, The Way tells us that the only way to survive this world we've destroyed is to make better friends with the animals who remain.”—Domenica Ruta, author of Last Day
“The Way, with its post-frontier Buddhism and thrilling quest, is everything that apocalyptic doomer novels should be: entertaining, unsparing, and spiritual. This is an invigorating addition to the vital literature that bears witness to what we can’t afford to ignore: our collective patterns of self-destruction. I loved it.”—Claire Vaye Watkins, author of I Love You but I’ve Chosen Darkness
“An ultimately hopeful vision of the aftermath of disaster . . . An engaging window into a strange new world.”—Kirkus
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In Cary Groner’s vision of the near future, the world has been ravaged by a lethal virus and only the young have survived. Cities and infrastructures have been destroyed, countries no longer exist as they once did, and the natural world has taken over the landscape in surprising ways, with herds of camels roaming the desert and crocodiles glowing in the rivers, the result of some CRISPR experiment gone awry.
Against this treacherous backdrop, Will, a former caretaker of a Buddhist monastery in Colorado, receives a mysterious directive: to bring a potential cure to a scientist in California—though he doesn’t know if California still exists. And so Will sets out, haunted by dreams of the woman he once loved. Danger lurks everywhere. A hitman is on his tail. And the only way he’ll make it is with the help of a clever raven, an opinionated cat, and a tough teenage girl who’s grown used to being on her own.
Both a page-turning adventure and, ultimately, a love story, The Way is an imaginative and inventive novel whose wisdom will stay with readers long after they’ve turned the last thrilling page.
PRODUCT DETAILS
ISBN: 9781954118423
Price: $28.00
On-sale date: 12/3/2024
Weight: 1.05 lbs.
CARY GRONER’s debut novel, Exiles, was published by Spiegel & Grau (at Random House) in 2011 and was named one of the best books of the year by the Chicago Tribune. His short stories have won numerous awards and have appeared in Glimmer Train, American Fiction, Mississippi Review, Salamander, Sycamore Review, and Southern California Review, among other places.