Telephone

Zach Wells, who teaches geology and paleobiology at a college, calls himself a profoundly dull man. He plays chess against his daughter, swaps wordplay with his wife, avoids committee work and keeps his distance from a colleague's tenure fight and from a student whose attentions seem flirtatious. Then doctors find that his daughter has a rare, incurable disease that will steadily take her sight and her mind. In a jacket he ordered online he discovers a handwritten note begging for help, and, desperate to act when he cannot save his child, he heads for New Mexico on an improbable rescue mission. Zach tells the story himself, unsure at times where it begins and where it ends.

AI-generated summary

About the book

Form

Novel

Genres

Family (assigned by AI)

Set in

United States

First published

2020

Author's age

64 when first published

ISBN

9781644450222 (Graywolf Press, United States)

9781035036585 (Picador, United Kingdom)

More

Wikidata