Why did I love this book?
Two percent of the population suddenly disappears. No one knows where they went or why, which doesn’t stop people from speculating. Building on this inspired premise, Tom Perrotta explores how the people who are left behind deal with their traumatic loss. Some join cults. Others try to hold things together. I was struck by how, in this masterful novel, even the survivors’ weirdest behaviors make a kind of sense given their situations and the culture that we share.
2 authors picked The Leftovers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.
With heart, intelligence and a rare ability to illuminate the struggles inherent in ordinary lives, Tom Perrotta's The Leftovers—now adapted into an HBO series—is a startling, thought-provoking novel about love, connection and loss.
What if—whoosh, right now, with no explanation—a number of us simply vanished? Would some of us collapse? Would others of us go on, one foot in front of the other, as we did before the world turned upside down?
That's what the bewildered citizens of Mapleton, who lost many of their neighbors, friends and lovers in the event known as the Sudden Departure, have to figure out.…