The Fisherman's Son - by Michael Koepf (Paperback)

About the Book

Published in hardcover to tremendous acclaim, "The Fisherman's Son" tells the tale of Neil Kruger, who, lost at sea off the northern California coast, retreats from his fear by recalling scenes from his Half Moon Bay childhood.

Book Synopsis

Drifting in a life raft off the northern California coast after a horrifying shipwreck, Neil Kruger retreats from his fear by recalling scenes from his childhood. He finds solace in memories of his father, a taciturn man who introduced him to the fisherman's life; his mother, who worked at the local cannery to keep the family fed; and a host of local fishermen, whose battles with the sea become for Neil both a model and a tragic foreshadowing of his own fate.

At once a stunning evocation of a dying world and an intimate story of a troubled family, The Fisherman's Son is a triumphant and utterly authentic novel about our lifelines to childhood and the pull of the sea.

Review Quotes

"Brilliantly written and mesmerically evocative, Köepf's extraordinary novel is a tribute to tough men and their long-suffering, and sometimes
not-so-long-suffering, families."
--The Los Angeles Times

"[Köepf] has filled The Fisherman's Son with bountiful helpings of the heart and vigor that we look for in the Great American Novel."
--The Oregonian

"Imagine Sebastian Junger's The Perfect Storm without its long-winded passages or the dry-as-toast science. That's what you get with Michael Köepf's powerful and poignant novel."
--The Denver Post

"The memories and flashbacks that compose the bulk of the book display a remarkable diversity. They range through adventures on the high seas, coming-of-age tales, family dramas, and some absolutely superb descriptions of the daily work on a fishing boat. . . . My eight-year-old son, who insisted I read to him all the shipwreck scenes, listened wide-eyed, gulping, utterly enthralled."
--The San Francisco Chronicle

About the Author

Michael Köepf worked for nineteen years as a commercial fisherman, the same trade as that of his father and brothers. Formerly a journalist and a teacher, he is currently writing a screenplay on Lewis and Clark for Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks SKG. Köepf lives in Elk, California.