Going to the Sun

Seven years ago, Penny's boyfriend was savagely attacked by a bear, setting off a chain of tragic events. Now, fighting a debilitating illness and haunted by her past, she finds herself incapable of emotional or sexual intimacy. As a way to break down the defenses she has built up in her safe Chicago life, she sets out on a cross-country bike tour. On this trip she meets Ndele, a beautiful, mysterious black man who challenges her to confront her ghosts and decide whether to put her past behind her and live or succumb to the terrible uncertainties that plague even her dreams. James McManusis the author of four novels, as well asPositively Fifth Street. In 2001 he received the Peter Lisagor Award for sports journalism. His writing appears inThe New York Times,The Boston Globe,Esquire,Chicago, andHarper's, and has been widely anthologized. He teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, including a course on the literature and science of poker. Winner of the Carl Sandburg Award When Penelope Culligan embarks on a cross-country bicycle trip to Alaska, the site of her life's defining tragedy seven years before, she hopes that the pilgrimage will serve as an emancipationfrom her incapacitating memories, as well as from her deteriorating health. Incapable of emotional or sexual intimacy, she meets Ndele Rimes, who is either the perfect catch or the perfect murderer, and discovers that neither her newfound freedom nor her carefully constructed defenses have any application out on the open road. "A long, Americanized gloss on Beckett . . . Brilliant, funny and sometimes harrowing."The New York Times Book Review "Vibrant, original, and keenly interesting at every level. Penny is Huck Finn after grad school, on her bike instead of the raft, but still traveling in search of liberation. Her coolly intelligent voice, the acute observation of the landscape through which she travels, and her pitiless detailing of the routine struggles of a diabetic are each perfect in their ways. This is a first-rate novel."Scott Turow "If thePequodhad dropped anchor in Tahiti during its pursuit of Moby Dock, would Ahab have called off his fatal quest? Probably not. Only if the grass-skirted maidens there somehow matched the emotional impact of the beast that has mauled him. McManus creates exactly this combination of menace and allure in the person of Ndele Rimes . . . McManus isn't really a horror writer. His strengths, rather, are in voices, crowded scenes that spin out of control, observation of the road, and edgy comedy of manners."Los Angeles Times "As Penny pedals along with Beckett, her beloved invisible companion, her joy in shaping her mission is palpable (McManus gets the voice just right). He manages a delicate balance between Penny's meditations and episodes on the road . . . McManus takes big risks here. He sets off his fireworks at the start; furthermore, the problems of a blocked Ph.D. candidate are not guaranteed to get the heart racing. Yet, against the odds, he succeeds; his portrait of a gutsy lady dueling with death is both exhilarating and moving."The Washington Post Book World "The admirably edgy energy that runs through James McManus's five previous books is a kind of signature. But inGoing to the Sunthere seems to be a special urgency about his writing that powerfully portrays the consciousness of his diabetic central character, Penny Culligan; it's an urgency capable of conveying not only her cross-country flight but the very spikes and plunges of sugar in her blood. It's an urgency that is finally a measure of the deep compassion in this intense novel."Stuart Dybek, author ofI Sailed with Magellan "Absolutely spellbinding . . . seldom have

James McManus is a novelist and poet, most recently winner of the Peter Lisagor Award for sports journalism. He teaches writing and comparative literature at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, including a course on the literature and science of poker.

"A long, Americanized gloss on Beckett...Brilliant, funny and sometimes harrowing." --The New York Times Book Review

"Vibrant, original, and keenly interesting at every level. Penny is Huck Finn after grad school, on her bike instead of the raft, but still traveling in search of liberation. Her coolly intelligent voice, the acute observation of the landscape through which she travels, and her pitiless detailing of the routine struggles of a diabetic are each perfect in their ways. This is a first-rate novel."--Scott Turow

"Extraordinary work. McManus's precise treatment of physical love and chronic illness are simple and powerful." --Anchee Minn

"Could not be more American...Penny's narrative--by turns lyrical, pissed off, and longing--is a triumph." --Publishers Weekly

"A well-crafted tale of grief, introspection, and courage." -Booklist