Thar She Blows

Book cover of Thar She Blows

Book description

Caught in a redundant housewife existence, Ann never leaves her beige suburban home, her schlubby do-nothing son Brian is directionless after graduating high-school, and it looks like nothing will ever change. But when Brian is swallowed by a whale and Ann receives a garbled phone call from him, she is…

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Topics

Whales

Genres

Magical realism

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Thar She Blows as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Mimi Herman

Author

Like many readers, my idea of a good time is to get lost in a book, but to get swallowed by a whale in a book? It never occurred to me to imagine trying to survive inside a whale, but it clearly did to Susan Emswhiller.

I couldn’t get over the fabulous combination of wackiness and practicality in Thar She Blows.

While I followed geeky, schlubby Brian as he began to discover that he did indeed have actual skills, I also traveled with his mother, Ann, in her quest to find the son no one believes has survived and her…

From Mimi's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Barbara Krasnoff

Author

This is an excellent book that shows the life changes in two people: a woman who learns to trust her own knowledge and instincts, and her son, who learns how to both fend for himself and take on the responsibility for others.

The fact that they both learn these lessons when he is accidentally swallowed by a large whale (think Pinocchio rather than Ahab) adds a note of absurdity that is the icing on the well-written cake.

From Barbara's 3 favorite reads in 2023.