WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE
New York Times Readers' Pick: Top 100 Books of the 21st Century
""Demon is a voice for the ages—akin to Huck Finn or Holden Caulfield—only even more resilient." —Beth Macy, author of Dopesick
""May be the best novel of [the year]. . . . Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, this is the story of an irrepressible boy nobody wants, but readers will love." —Ron Charles, Washington Post
From the acclaimed author of The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees and the recipient of the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, a brilliant novel that enthralls, compels, and captures the heart as it evokes a young hero's unforgettable journey to maturity
Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.
Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE
New York Times Readers' Pick: Top 100 Books of the 21st Century
""Demon is a voice for the ages—akin to Huck Finn or Holden Caulfield—only even more resilient." —Beth Macy, author of Dopesick
""May be the best novel of [the year]. . . . Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, this is the story of an irrepressible boy nobody wants, but readers will love." —Ron Charles, Washington Post
From the acclaimed author of The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees and the recipient of the National Book Foundation's Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, a brilliant novel that enthralls, compels, and captures the heart as it evokes a young hero's unforgettable journey to maturity
Set in the mountains of southern Appalachia, Demon Copperhead is the story of a boy born to a teenaged single mother in a single-wide trailer, with no assets beyond his dead father's good looks and copper-colored hair, a caustic wit, and a fierce talent for survival. Relayed in his own unsparing voice, Demon braves the modern perils of foster care, child labor, derelict schools, athletic success, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses. Through all of it, he reckons with his own invisibility in a popular culture where even the superheroes have abandoned rural people in favor of cities.
Many generations ago, Charles Dickens wrote David Copperfield from his experience as a survivor of institutional poverty and its damages to children in his society. Those problems have yet to be solved in ours. Dickens is not a prerequisite for readers of this novel, but he provided its inspiration. In transposing a Victorian epic novel to the contemporary American South, Barbara Kingsolver enlists Dickens' anger and compassion, and above all, his faith in the transformative powers of a good story. Demon Copperhead speaks for a new generation of lost boys, and all those born into beautiful, cursed places they can't imagine leaving behind.
Critiques-
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Starred review from August 29, 2022
Kingsolver (Unsheltered) offers a deeply evocative story of a boy born to an impoverished single mother. In this self-styled, modern adaptation of Dickens’s David Copperfield, Demon Copperhead, 11, is the quick-witted son and budding cartoonist of a troubled young mother and a stepfather in southern Appalachia’s Lee County, Va.; eventually, his mother’s opioid addiction places Demon in various foster homes, where he is forced to earn his keep through work (even though his guardians are paid) and is always hungry from lack of food. After a guardian steals his money, Demon hitchhikes to Tennessee in search of his paternal grandmother. She is welcoming, but will not raise him, and sends him back to live with the town’s celebrated high school football coach as his new guardian, a widower who lives in a castle-like home with his boyish daughter, Angus. Demon’s teen years settle briefly with fame on the football field and a girlfriend, Dori. But stability is short-lived after a football injury and as he and Dori become addicted to opioids (“We were storybook orphans on drugs”). Kingsolver’s account of the opioid epidemic and its impact on the social fabric of Appalachia is drawn to heartbreaking effect. This is a powerful story, both brilliant in its many social messages regarding foster care, child hunger, and rural struggles, and breathless in its delivery. -
DAVID COPPERFIELD is the starting point for this audiobook, but it's not a template. Narrator Charlie Thurston's fine regional accent takes listeners to southwest Virginia, a place that dives deep into the truths of rural poverty. Damon Fields tells his own story, as in the Dickens novel, but he faces difficulties beyond what the English author imagined. One such challenge is the transformation of his name, which occurs because of his bright red hair. Nearly everyone in this story is from Lee County, so accents don't vary much. But Thurston manages to suggest all the major characters with subtle shifts of timbre, and he keeps Damon's sad narrative from sounding like whining. The novel is depressing yet gripping, and its conclusion, at least, is hopeful. D.M.H. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
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Starred review from March 1, 2023
In southwestern Virginia's Lee County, Damon "Demon Copperhead" Fields tells, via first-person reflection through his young adult eyes, of his childhood within the Department of Social Services system. His story begins at age 10 in the late 1990s and chronicles his experiences to the early 2000s. When his mother dies by overdose, Demon is thrust into the foster system. He suffers through several foster homes until he lands in the home of the local high school's football coach. After a football-related knee injury, Demon suffers inadequate medical attention and pressure to recover quickly for the sake of the sport, and soon becomes addicted to opioids. Despite being surrounded mostly by a peer group of users, Demon manages to cling to a support system of nonusers, adults, and peers who stand by him throughout his trials and eventual recovery. With pitch-perfect accents and sensitive characterizations, Charlie Thurston (The Warsaw Orphan) narrates. VERDICT Kingsolver's (Unsheltered) reimagining of Dickens's David Copperfield is a piercing bildungsroman exposing social injustices inflicted upon rural Appalachia amid abject poverty and the burgeoning U.S. opioid epidemic. Its many discussion points, social relevance, and hopeful ending make this a first-rate choice for all, and especially for book clubs.--Kym Goering
Copyright 2023 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
