Until Your Heart Stops

By T.M. McNally

Book Overview

"Stunning . . . Unforgettable . . ." Los Angeles Times The unexpected suicide of seventeen-year-old Walker Miller sends shock waves through the small community at Gold Dust High in Phoenix. There's Joe Jazinski, Walker's best friend, suddenly faced with an anger he can't express; Edith McCaw, his nearly blind girlfriend, struggling with an emerging sexuality as frightening as it is powerful; Jenna Williams, the swim coach, wrapped in guilt and blame; and Roy Morrison, the driver's ed teacher, a recovering alcoholic who comes to realize that he may be incapable of love. Follow the lives of these four people, present and past, as each searches for meaning and reason in unexplained tragedy . . .

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679418261
• ISBN13: 9780679418269
• Release Date: February 1993
• Publisher: Villard
• Length: 190 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.0" x 1.3" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

virtually everything he ever taught me

Mike was my professor for a couple of years and this book is a fictional representation of virtually everything I learned from him....Whether you like it or not, this book is tight, has little or no extraneous jabber, something that many authors should consider. Minimalism at its most.This book is an author writing the book that he wants to write, according to his rules and that makes this a good book in my eyes. If you are interested in the study of fiction, try this book.

Compelling

I'm amazed at the negative reviews on this site, and pleased also to see the positive ones. The negative ones feel not about the work, but like easy slams... Memorable characters and a compelling story line. I have read, I believe, all of this author's work and look forward to more.

unforgettable

this book is moving and unforgettble. i read it about three years ago and sometimes it just comes back to me. it's like the characters are real people that you knew once that had a big impact on your life and you will never forget them. this book is sad, terrifying, beautiful and increibly moving. it's about feelings and life. about love and hate, indifference and caring so much that it hurts. it's about life and the horrible things that happen to people and the horrible things that people can do to others... but also about love and how much it can bear.

Memorable, affecting and real

I'm in complete disagreement with the other review here, in that Until Your Heart Stops is one of the strongest adolescent-centered novels I've read in years. The language is well-crafted and genuine and the characters, especially the teens, are vivid in the dramatics of their feelings. This should be on the reading list of anyone interested in adolescent development, though it seems like novels as unsterotypical as this one are becoming harder to find. Try A.M. Homes' "Jack," and Brian Hall's "The Saskiad," too.