The Death of Sweet Mister

A “New York Times” Notable Book.

“I can’t remember coming across a more precise evocation of innocence lost since Golding’s “The Lord of the Flies.” With “The Death of Sweet Mister,” Daniel Woodrell has written his masterpiece–spare, dark, and incandescently beautiful. It broke my heart.”–Dennis Lehane, best-selling author of “Mystic River”

“Put [“The Death of Sweet Mister”] on the shelf alongside Faulkner, Jim Thompson, and Cormac McCarthy. With this one, Mr. Woodrell has earned himself a piece of immortality.”–George Pelecanos, best-selling author of “The Way Home”

“”The Death of Sweet Mister” holds its own against anything in the canon of American literature. This is a book I’d place alongside Faulkner’s “The Reivers” or Hemingway’s ‘Big-Two-Hearted River.'”–Kaye Gibbons, best-selling author of “Ellen Foster”

“”The Death of Sweet Mister” is a strong contender for my all-time favorite novel, crime or otherwise.”–Allan Guthrie, Edgar Award-nominated author of “Slammer”

“Fiery, poetic, hair-raising.”–“Los Angeles Times”

“Compelling. . . . Woodrell’s descriptions seem real and alive and linger long after reading.”–“The Boston Globe”

“Woodrell’s Ozarks are cut as cleanly as Flannery O’Connor’s Georgia and pocked with characters just as volatile and proud and unpredictable.”–“Chicago Tribune”

Set in the Missouri hill country, “The Death of Sweet Mister” presents one eventful summer in the life of Shug, a friendless, overweight thirteen-year-old living with his mother Glenda in the caretaker’s cottage at the local cemetery.