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Back to topGod is an Astronaut (Paperback)
Description
The day of the accident, Jess is in the backyard with a chainsaw, clearing space to build the greenhouse she's always wanted. And, as always, she is thinking of Arthur. Arthur, her colleague in the botany department, who never believed she'd actually start the project. Arthur, who, after getting too close, has cut off contact, escaping to study the subarctic pines.
But now there has been a disaster, one connected to her husband's space tourism company: the explosion of a space shuttle filled with commercial passengers, which ignites a media frenzy at her family's doorstep. Jess's engineer husband is implicated, and she knows there is information he's withholding, even as she becomes an unwitting player in the efforts to salvage the company's reputation.
Struggling, Jess writes to the only person she can be candid with. And in her e-mails to Arthur--warm, frank, yet freighted with regret and the old habits of seduction--Jess tries to untangle how her life has changed, in one instant but also slowly, and how it might change still.
With sure pacing and intimate wisdom, God is an Astronaut unfurls a story of secrets and wonderment, of the unforgettable and the vast unknowable.
About the Author
Alyson Foster grew up in Michigan and received her BA in creative writing from the University of Michigan, winning a Hopwood Award for her fiction. She received her MFA from George Mason University, where she was a Completion Fellow, and her short fiction has appeared in various publications. Alyson Foster lives in Washington DC, where she works for the National Geographic Society library.
@alysonafoster
Praise For…
"A perfectly flawed protagonist whose sharp wit is as natural as her green thumb." —5 Summer Novels You Must Read, Minneapolis Star-Tribune
"Alyson Foster’s unusual novel God is an Astronaut updates the classic epistolary form for the Google age . . . This is an impressive novel, full of wry humour and, perhaps, a covert ecological message." —Independent
"Propulsive prose offers a fine portrait of a woman in distress but not going under." —Top Indie Fiction for Spring/Summer, Library Journal
"Struggling to maintain a united front as their marriage unravels, Jess handles each blow with resilience and grace. Clearly, she's last-woman-standing material, as her humor and perspective keep her above the fray." —16 Books You Must Pick Up this August, O, the Oprah Magazine
“Foster expertly builds suspense . . . [Her] absorbing character study couched in a very contemporary cautionary tale is likely to find many fans.” —Booklist
"God is an Astronaut is a novel of this very moment: the uncertainty of our place in the universe, the difficulty and opportunity of instant communication, our oscillation between fighting with and falling in love with technology. But it is also a novel of every moment: Lust, regret, tragic arrogance, redeeming love -- these have always been part of our humanity. Alyson Foster is a brave writer, one I admire greatly for the intensity of her vision and her willingness to step into telling the difficult story of right now." —Lydia Netzer, author of SHINE SHINE SHINE and HOW TO TELL TOLEDO FROM THE NIGHT SKY
"From the first page, I was drawn in by this gripping and winning novel. The writing is fresh, vivid, and funny, beautifully capturing the mysteries of both the cosmos and our daily lives." —Madeline Miller, author of THE SONG OF ACHILLES
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