Heroes of the Frontier

By: Dave Eggers

Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman

Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

A captivating, often hilarious novel of family, loss, wilderness, and the curse of a violent America, Dave Eggers' Heroes of the Frontier is a powerful examination of our contemporary life and a rousing story of adventure.

Josie and her children's father have split up, she's been sued by a former patient and lost her dental practice, and she's grieving the death of a young man senselessly killed. When her ex asks to take the children to meet his new fiancée's family, Josie makes a run for it, figuring Alaska is about as far as she can get without a passport. Josie and her kids, Paul and Ana, rent a rattling old RV named the Chateau, and at first their trip feels like a vacation: They see bears and bison, they eat hot dogs cooked on a bonfire, and they spend nights parked along icy cold rivers in dark forests. But as they drive, pushed north by the ubiquitous wildfires, Josie is chased by enemies both real and imagined, past mistakes pursuing her tiny family, even to the very edge of civilization.

A tremendous new novel from the best-selling author of The Circle, Heroes of the Frontier is the darkly comic story of a mother and her two young children on a journey through an Alaskan wilderness plagued by wildfires and a uniquely American madness.

©2016 Dave Eggers (P)2016 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"Adept at literary reinvention, Eggers steers his ongoing social critique in an especially liberating new direction in this comedic outlaw odyssey.... Over the course of Josie's hilarious and scathing inner monologue about the depravity of our species, Eggers offers glimpses into her molten sorrows, including the death of her favorite patient in Afghanistan and a decimating malpractice lawsuit. As this trio of surprisingly resilient fugitives careens haphazardly from peril to refuge and back again, Eggers, writing with exuberant imagination, incandescent precision, and breathless propulsion, casts divining light on human folly and generosity and the glories and terror of nature. This uproarious quest, this breathless journey from lost to found, this delirious American road-trip saga, is fueled by uncanny insight, revolutionary humor, and profound pleasure in the absurd and the sublime." (Donna Seaman, Booklist)

"The frontier in Eggers's appealing and affecting new novel is Alaska, but also, arguably, the adventures of its heroine, Josie. The core of the novel is relatable to anyone who has thought about starting over in an unknown place...[Eggers's] writing is fresh and full of empathy, his observations on modern society apt and insightful." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Josie, a dentist, is numbed by a shot of existential Novocain when she heads to Alaska with her two children at the start of Dave Eggers's latest novel. The heroine is running from a past that includes a breakup, a lawsuit that ends her dental practice, the haunting death of a young man...and a fog of overall detachment.... Along roads dotted by warning signs for wild animals, Josie takes her kids north in an RV, dodging police, wildfires and other hazards." ( The Wall Street Journal)

adventurous , transporting and thought provoking.

I caught myself feeling all of the colors being described. From the shocking red of Anna's hair and Paul's ice blue eyes to the many colors of their mother's soul during their adventure, and enjoyed the possibilities suggested by this.

Good premise, slight miss in execution

The story was good, pacing was a little off. The audition narration was excellent and kept me interested.

Where is my resolution?

The best way to describe this book is with the word unresolved. It is beautifully written and wonderfully conceived, but nothing gets resolved. The protagonist is left with no resolution regarding her sister, the power company lawsuit, where she is headed, or her feelings of guilt regarding the death of Jesse.

She feels shame about enjoying sex, for having been caught in that act by her son. She is ashamed of not being the perfect parent or knowing the right decisions to make. She is a bundle of nerves and emotions she hasn't even begun to investigate. While I don't expect a happy ending, how about ending where the story naturally ends not in the middle of nowhere with absolutely no resolution to any problem or question that has arisen.

Kudos on being a writer that can express emotion and convey meaning through setting and dialogue. Honestly I found Josie, Paul and Ana beautiful and individual and wonderful unto themselves. However I damn you for not finding the ending this story deserved.

I am an Eggers fan

To the extent that I was able to get that this is a comedy and to the extent that I could amuse myself by comparing Josie, Paul and Ana to, say, Lewis and Clark, I enjoyed it. And the performance was extraordinary. However, I never had an ounce of like for Josie and could barely tolerate one more minute of her hairbrained and narcissistic schemes. Moreover, though she would consistently make 25 terrible decisions in a row, in the next moment, she'd know in her bones exactly the right thing to do. Absolutely self-deceived, a risk-to-life-and-limb threat to self and children and, as I said, unlikable, I wouldn't follow her anywhere.

The Hallelujah quality of the ending was also amusing--Josie was always winding herself up for heaps of self-appreciation.

Heros of the Frontier

a very entertaining story, some great human insights. word word word word word word word.

Frustrating

I just didn't find much in common with the main character. She is having some sort of major existential crisis, uproots her life and children, and then goes to Alaska despite being horrifyingly unprepared. Again and again she puts herself and her children in completely unnecessarily dangerous situations. I found her whole expedition to be selfish, unthinking and ill advised. It made it difficult to relate to her

Beautifully etched character and scenes

If you could sum up Heroes of the Frontier in three words, what would they be?

Heartwrenching, wry, surprising

What did you like best about this story?

The main character is dealing with depression, loss and disillusionment as the victim of a crass economic blow and her poor choice of a slacker baby daddy. Eggers charts her almost accidental discovery of redemption, and her ability to return it, in Alaska. That quirky, tough state stands in for the harsh aloneness that life can be when you're adrift and hurting.

Have you listened to any of Rebecca Lowman’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Not sure, but her narration was perfect for the character's voice.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Oh yeah, I had a hard time stopping the recording. I usually listen to audiobooks while exercising or cooking, and when I really love one I'm practically antisocial at home.

Any additional comments?

David Eggers writes women astonishingly well. I also loved "The Circle" in which his main character, May, is a very different person. I'm a fan of all his books, but it's always a new and pleasant discovery to see how smoothly he conveys the life from inside the female heart.

Surviving bad decisions

This book was hardly a “hilarious” journey of self discovery. It would have been better described as a depressing journey personal deconstruction without any reconstruction

Entertaining but overly sentimentalizing

The book has a good plot, but, told in the first person, the main character appears foolish and overly prone to drawing generalizations and simplification. I wasn't sure whether Eggers was being serious about the internal dialogue of a woman coming of age, or whether he intends the reader to think, "Oh come now, seriously?" After finishing, his appears a serious voice, the flipped image of the male writers of the 50's, 60's and 70's who could only idealize women.

I did enjoy his descriptions of late summer weather in Alaska, as well as his descriptions of music in non musical form. Like a musical composition, the climax of the book takes place, as in the chord progression of a coda, through scenes of increasing tension until the final resolution. Here, Eggers unfortunately lapses into serious schmaltz. The narrator's breathless reading does not help. I have not read much of his writing, so I do not know if this is a pattern with him. However, I am interested in reading more of his writing.

I've listened to this 3 times!!!

Where does Heroes of the Frontier rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I Loved her monderen day Rants!!! I thought she was a little paranoid at times, but as her story unfolded, I understood why...

What did you like best about this story?

I loved the various challenges and therapy she went thru to get her life back! Also, how she got to know (better) and appreciate her Beautiful children.

What about Rebecca Lowman’s performance did you like?

The narrator did a wonderful job in the embodying of Josie, and the other characters.