The Mars Room: A Novel
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)
Author
Contributors
Kushner, Rachel Author
Published
Scribner , 2018.
Appears on list
Status
Available from Libby/OverDrive
Available Platforms
Libby/OverDrive
Titles may be read via Libby/OverDrive. Libby/OverDrive is a free app that allows users to borrow and read digital media from their local library, including ebooks, audiobooks, and magazines. Users can access Libby/OverDrive through the Libby/OverDrive app or online. The app is available for Android and iOS devices.
Kindle
Titles may be read using Kindle devices or with the Kindle app.
Description
TIME’S #1 FICTION TITLE OF THE YEAR • NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2018 FINALIST for the MAN BOOKER PRIZE and the NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD LONGLISTED for the ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL An instant New York Times bestseller from two-time National Book Award finalist Rachel Kushner, The Mars Room earned tweets from Margaret Atwood—“gritty, empathic, finely rendered, no sugar toppings, and a lot of punches, none of them pulled”—and from Stephen King—“The Mars Room is the real deal, jarring, horrible, compassionate, funny.”It’s 2003 and Romy Hall is at the start of two consecutive life sentences at Stanville Women’s Correctional Facility, deep in California’s Central Valley. Outside is the world from which she has been severed: the San Francisco of her youth and her young son, Jackson. Inside is a new reality: thousands of women hustling for the bare essentials needed to survive; the bluffing and pageantry and casual acts of violence by guards and prisoners alike; and the deadpan absurdities of institutional living, which Kushner evokes with great humor and precision. Stunning and unsentimental, The Mars Room demonstrates new levels of mastery and depth in Kushner’s work. It is audacious and tragic, propulsive and yet beautifully refined. As James Wood said in The New Yorker, her fiction “succeeds because it is so full of vibrantly different stories and histories, all of them particular, all of them brilliantly alive.”
Excerpt
Loading Excerpt...
Similar Titles From NoveList
NoveList provides detailed suggestions for titles you might like if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Peach - Glass, Emma
These books have the appeal factors bleak, stylistically complex, and unconventional, and they have the genres "literary fiction" and "psychological fiction"; the subjects "stalking," "stalkers," and "violence against women"; and characters that are "complex characters."
These books have the appeal factors bleak, gritty, and stylistically complex, and they have the theme "large cast of characters"; the genre "literary fiction"; the subjects "violence against women" and "loss"; and characters that are "complex characters" and "well-developed characters."
These books have the appeal factors moving, stylistically complex, and first person narratives, and they have the subject "crimes against women"; and characters that are "complex characters," "flawed characters," and "introspective characters."
Barker House - Moloney, David
These books have the appeal factors bleak, stylistically complex, and first person narratives, and they have the genre "literary fiction"; the subjects "prisons," "judicial system," and "correctional personnel"; and characters that are "complex characters" and "well-developed characters."
These books have the appeal factors stylistically complex and strong sense of place, and they have the theme "novels of place"; the genre "literary fiction"; the subjects "single mothers," "addiction," and "violence against women"; and characters that are "complex characters" and "well-developed characters."
These books have the appeal factors moving, bleak, and stylistically complex, and they have the genres "literary fiction" and "psychological fiction"; and characters that are "complex characters," "flawed characters," and "introspective characters."
These books have the appeal factors bittersweet, and they have the subjects "prisons," "prisoners," and "fathers"; and characters that are "well-developed characters."
These books have the appeal factors stylistically complex, strong sense of place, and intricately plotted, and they have the genres "literary fiction" and "psychological fiction"; and characters that are "complex characters" and "well-developed characters."
We recommend Sing Her Down for readers who like The Mars Room. Both utilize stylistic and character complexity to tell the intense stories of women and the penal system. -- Ashley Lyons
The Graybar Hotel: stories - Dawkins, Curtis
Both the moving novel The Mars Room and the observant short stories in The Graybar Hotel compassionately address life behind bars: the tedious routine of prison life, the struggle to preserve psychological equanimity, the poignant moments of humanity. -- Shauna Griffin
Although The Enchanted's haunting and lyrical narrative incorporates elements of fantasy and The Mars Room's character-driven storyline is grounded in gritty realism, both stylistically complex novels offer intimate, humanizing portraits of convicted criminals while capturing the nuances of prison life. -- Shauna Griffin
Introducing characters who are serving lengthy prison sentences (an innocent African American man in An American Marriage, a white single mother guilty of murder in The Mars Room), these moving, character-driven stories illuminate the impact of incarceration on family relationships. -- NoveList Contributor
Similar Authors From NoveList
NoveList provides detailed suggestions for other authors you might want to read if you enjoyed this book. Suggestions are based on recommendations from librarians and other contributors.
Rachel Kushner and Anna Burns write stylistically complex fiction that blends the flair and experimentation of literary prose with the suspenseful mood and plots of thrillers. Edgy, countercultural settings or dangerous political environments are recurrent subjects, where complex women find themselves in prisons, revolutions, or countries rife with terrorism. -- Michael Shumate
The characters of literary writers Rachel Kushner and Lauren Groff live their lives in unusual, often difficult situations, where an air of danger heightens the suspense. Both novelists convey a strong sense of place and time, such as 1970s counterculture (both), a 12th-century abbey (Groff), or a women's prison (Kushner). -- Michael Shumate
These authors write moving, character-driven literary and historical fiction in which unstable political environments influence the stories. Kushner's suspenseful novels use various settings, with her characters often directly involved, including once as a spy. In Hammad's haunting novels, the tragic political history of Palestine provides the backdrop for her characters' lives. -- Michael Shumate
These authors' works have the appeal factors gritty, lyrical, and multiple perspectives, and they have the genre "psychological fiction"; the subjects "terrorism," "self-discovery," and "terrorists"; and characters that are "complex characters."
These authors' works have the appeal factors moving, haunting, and lyrical, and they have the genre "literary fiction"; the subjects "secrets," "terrorism," and "deception"; and characters that are "well-developed characters" and "complex characters."
These authors' works have the appeal factors incisive and stylistically complex, and they have the genre "literary fiction"; and the subjects "women authors," "widows," and "spies."
These authors' works have the appeal factors gritty, haunting, and incisive, and they have the genres "noir fiction" and "crime fiction"; and the subjects "undercover operations," "intelligence officers," and "spies."
These authors' works have the appeal factors haunting, lyrical, and multiple perspectives, and they have the genre "literary fiction"; the subjects "self-discovery" and "single mothers"; and characters that are "well-developed characters" and "complex characters."
These authors' works have the appeal factors haunting, character-driven, and unconventional, and they have the genres "literary fiction" and "psychological fiction"; and the subjects "terrorism," "self-discovery," and "women authors."
These authors' works have the appeal factors gritty, lyrical, and intricately plotted, and they have the genres "literary fiction" and "political fiction"; and the subjects "self-discovery," "life change events," and "loss."
These authors' works have the appeal factors gritty, haunting, and lyrical, and they have the genres "noir fiction" and "crime fiction"; and characters that are "introspective characters."
These authors' works have the appeal factors haunting and lyrical, and they have the genre "literary fiction"; the subjects "betrayal," "self-discovery," and "deception"; and characters that are "complex characters."
Reviews from GoodReads
Loading GoodReads Reviews.
Citations
APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)
Kushner, R. (2018). The Mars Room: A Novel . Scribner.
Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Kushner, Rachel. 2018. The Mars Room: A Novel. Scribner.
Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)Kushner, Rachel. The Mars Room: A Novel Scribner, 2018.
Harvard Citation (style guide)Kushner, R. (2018). The mars room: a novel. Scribner.
MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)Kushner, Rachel. The Mars Room: A Novel Scribner, 2018.
Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.
Copy Details
| Collection | Owned | Available | Number of Holds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Libby | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Staff View
Loading Staff View.