Nobody Is Ever Missing
AuthorCatherine Lacey
LanguageEnglish
PublisherFarrar, Straus and Giroux
Publication date
2014

Nobody Is Ever Missing is a 2014 debut novel by American writer Catherine Lacey.

Writing and publication

While working toward an MFA in non-fiction writing from Columbia University, Lacey worked on a book for four years, which she eventually abandoned.[1] After she stopped working on that book, she began working on short stories; she eventually turned these into Nobody Is Ever Missing.[1] Lacey had a breakthrough in writing from the point of view of the narrator and central character, Elyria, while writing a specific scene in which she was "narrating a letter to her husband".[2]

The book's title comes from the John Berryman poem "Dream Song 29", published in Berryman's collection The Dream Songs.[3]

Reception

According to literary review aggregator Book Marks, the novel received mostly reviews the site characterized as "Rave" and "Positive".[4]

In his review of Lacey's second novel, The Answers, Dwight Garner praised Nobody Is Ever Missing.[5] Garner wrote that strong debut novels make him wary of an author's ability to produce a sophomore work of similar quality but he ultimately found his worries about the quality of The Answers unfounded.[5]

References

  1. ^ a b Ballaine, Emily (23 February 2015). "Nobody is Ever Missing: An Interview with Catherine Lacey". Tin House. Retrieved 27 March 2023.
  2. ^ Murphy, Dwyer (26 September 2014). "INTERVIEW: Catherine Lacey, author of Nobody Is Ever Missing". Electric Literature. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  3. ^ Merkin, Daphne (14 August 2014). "A Novel of the "Post-Wounded Woman"". The New Yorker. Retrieved 26 March 2023.
  4. ^ "Nobody Is Ever Missing". Book Marks. Literary Hub. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  5. ^ a b Garner, Dwight (30 May 2017). "'The Answers' Runs Down the Rabbit Hole of Love". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2023.
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