Demon Copperhead

By Barbara Kingsolver

Book Overview

WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE - WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTIONNew York Times Readers' Pick: Top 100 Books of the 21st Century - An Oprah's Book Club Selection - An Instant New York Times... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0063282569
• ISBN13: 9780063282568
• Release Date: January 1
• Publisher: H Publishing
• Length: 548 Pages
• Weight: 1.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.6" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

How is this fiction?? I feel like I knew Demon Copperhead.

I read this for our local librarys book club that doesn't meet until September. I cant wait to meet up, I need others to process this book with. I grew up in Appalachia in the time that this book is set and it is so spot on it's scary. I found myself wanting to look up Demon Copperhead to see how he is doing today.... then remembering he is a fictional character. Kingslover really develops the character that you love, root for, try to understand, and want the best for. Demon felt like so many people I knew when I was growing up.

A Necessary Portrait of a Preventable Tragedy

Demon Copperhead is a good novel, vivid, compassionate, and technically accomplished. For readers unfamiliar with the systematic exploitation of Appalachian communities, the indifference, the stereotyping, and the grinding poverty that made the opioid epidemic not just possible but inevitable, this book will be a revelation. For those who already know this story, who have watched Dopesick, read the histories, followed the headlines, it lands differently. Not as revelation but as confirmation, and confirmation carries its own particular frustration. Demon is born without a chance. Good people try. The forces arrayed against him are enormous. Friends die. Talent disappears into addiction. The machinery grinds on. Kingsolver renders all of it with care and skill. The frustration isn't with the book; it's with the reality the book faithfully reflects. We know this story. The question that lingers is whether we intend to do anything about it.

Great storytelling and meaningful prose

The first half was a bit slow but it really redeemed itself as it went! Demon is a character you will care for and root for from start to finish

Thoroughly enjoyed

Very engaging and well written.

Incredible

This is one of the best books I've read in years despite having to set it down several times because of how intimate the pain of the narrator was.

True artistry

So well written you stop in your tracks. It is like she is able to get inside the human soul and thoughts that no one ever hears, but we all understand. So worth it.

Fabulous Book

This is one of the best books I have ever read. I wish every drug abuse treatment counselor, mental health counselor, doctor, nurse, student, parent and teacher would read this book. It is fictional but there is so much to learn from it.

You'll laugh. You'll cry. You won't want to say goodbye.

Such a touching book that is full of heart, pain and redemption. Kingsolver's writing style sucks you in for all 60 something chapters. There's times you'll cheer for Demon. Other times you'll audibly hear yourself say "No!" It's obvious that Kingsolver intimately knows the area she writes about and she writes in an empathetic; but no holds barred, way. Highly recommend!

3.75

DEMON COPPERHEAD by Barbara Kingsolver A modern day (1990s) re-telling/adaption of Charles Dickens’ ‘David Copperfield’. If you haven’t read Dickens’ book, you can wait a little longer as this follows the storyline quite closely. Damon/Demon Copperhead’s life from birth to about 19 years of age is heavy, sad, bleak and depressing. I read this dreading whatever next terrible situation Demon would find himself in. Dude couldn’t catch a break! It doesn’t make for a very hopeful read. That said, Demon’s experience is tragic and traumatic. Set in Appalachia during the opioid crisis, his life highlights his experience in the foster system, and the struggles (and prejudices) the people of Appalachia deal with daily. While I would agree with most reviewers who say this was well written, at times it was borderline pretentious and bogged down with too many details reiterating the obvious point. In short, yes it’s brilliant and deserves the recognition, but ultimately it just wasn’t for me. Rating: 3.75/5 ⭐️

Genuine and full of love for a neglected region and people

Wow. Eye-opening and though provoking and so well written. A really powerful novel about the unseen forces that shape our society. Raw, but at the same time incredibly empathetic and hopeful. At times it was so heartbreaking, and yet I did not want this novel to end.

Barbara Kingsolver does it again!! a stunning accomplishment.

This book is brilliantly, written, complex, character development, sometimes frightening, often disheartening. Despicable throw you into the lives of the characters you will love them and you will hate them. You will cry and you will laugh.And you’ll long for them to be OK. And hopefully you will remember your own delicate humanity. And be kinder and more loving to yourself at the end. I’ve read all of Barbara Kingsolver books. She’s brilliant writer. This book is no exception. I sit on the edge of my seat, waiting for her next masterpiece.