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Lost
LOST traces the reckless expedition undertaken by two adult couples, imagining they are refreshing themselves and their marriages with a bracing adventure in mountain camping. They cart along their four kids, just to share the fun. Conditions, both outside and inside these adults, force on them sacrifices they were never prepared to make, sacrifices that reach beyond their own lives and into those of their children and, very likely, all of us.
"I would call this a comedy of manners, but that risks hiding the payload of terror that comes when two average American couples, with their average American children, go into the great cathedral of the woods and get lost. Nature is not kind, and men are not capable, and it soon becomes clear – in this lively, intelligent, and beautifully shaped novel – that the most dangerous thing a child will encounter in life is his own family. James Kincaid understands just how poor the hand is that kids have been dealt today, and in Lost he plays those cards out with winning skill and unnerving certainty."
- Mathew Stadler, author of Chloe Jarren’s la Cucaracha, Alan Stein, and other novels.
"Imagine if the Swiss Family Robinson were dropped into the world of Call of the Wild, then found themselves dining with the Donner Party. James Kincaid has written something readers long for but seldom find: a smart, intense and breath-taking page-turner. This is one of those books you stay awake to keep reading – only to discover it haunting you as you dream. A primal and fierce tale of universal fear, appetite, and survival, Lost takes us deep into the wilderness of our own unmapped emotions."
- Regina Barreca, author of Babes in Boyland, Sweet Revenge and other works.
"The most dangerous thing about the wilderness is not those we don’t know, but those we do. Lost blew me away, left me staring at a white-out, freezing and happy for it. James Kincaid has crafted a story about family and responsibility, blame and discovery. Through all the horror of this novel, it still managed to teach me the possibilities, the freedom that comes with being lost. This is a beautiful novel."
- Percival Everett, author of I Am Not Sidney Poitier, Erasure, and other novels.
James R. Kincaid is the author of many books, fiction and non-fiction, and lives back in a canyon, perilously close to the territory he tells us about, one in which he may, any time now, find himself forever lost.
"I would call this a comedy of manners, but that risks hiding the payload of terror that comes when two average American couples, with their average American children, go into the great cathedral of the woods and get lost. Nature is not kind, and men are not capable, and it soon becomes clear – in this lively, intelligent, and beautifully shaped novel – that the most dangerous thing a child will encounter in life is his own family. James Kincaid understands just how poor the hand is that kids have been dealt today, and in Lost he plays those cards out with winning skill and unnerving certainty."
- Mathew Stadler, author of Chloe Jarren’s la Cucaracha, Alan Stein, and other novels.
"Imagine if the Swiss Family Robinson were dropped into the world of Call of the Wild, then found themselves dining with the Donner Party. James Kincaid has written something readers long for but seldom find: a smart, intense and breath-taking page-turner. This is one of those books you stay awake to keep reading – only to discover it haunting you as you dream. A primal and fierce tale of universal fear, appetite, and survival, Lost takes us deep into the wilderness of our own unmapped emotions."
- Regina Barreca, author of Babes in Boyland, Sweet Revenge and other works.
"The most dangerous thing about the wilderness is not those we don’t know, but those we do. Lost blew me away, left me staring at a white-out, freezing and happy for it. James Kincaid has crafted a story about family and responsibility, blame and discovery. Through all the horror of this novel, it still managed to teach me the possibilities, the freedom that comes with being lost. This is a beautiful novel."
- Percival Everett, author of I Am Not Sidney Poitier, Erasure, and other novels.
James R. Kincaid is the author of many books, fiction and non-fiction, and lives back in a canyon, perilously close to the territory he tells us about, one in which he may, any time now, find himself forever lost.
201 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 27, 2012
3 people want to read
About the author
James R. Kincaid
46 books20 followersJames R. Kincaid is an English Professor masquerading as an author (or the other way around). He’s published two novels (Lost and A History of the African-American People by Strom Thurmond — with Percival Everett). He is also the author of a couple dozen short stories, and ever so many nonfiction articles, reviews, and books, including long studies of Dickens, Trollope, and Tennyson, along with two books on Victorian and modern eroticizing of children: Child-Loving and Erotic Innocence. Kincaid has taught at Ohio State, Colorado, Berkeley, USC, and is now at Pitt.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 22, 2012
I will never be able to camp, hike, or go on vacation again without letting everyone I know and some of where I will be at all times. This is a great scary story.
September 29, 2012
Funny and disturbing, tragic and thought-provoking.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews