Demon Copperhead / Poisonwood Bible

by Barbara Kingsolver

Please Note That The Following Individual Books As Per Original ISBN and Cover Image In this Listing shall be Dispatched

Barbara Kingsolver 2 Books Collection

Demon
"Demon is a voice for the ages—akin to Huck Finn or Holden Caulfield—only even more resilient.” —Beth Macy, author of Dopesick "May be the best novel of 2022. . . . Equal parts hilarious and heartbreaking, this is the story of an irrepressible boy nobody wants, but readers will love.” (Ron Charles, Washington Post) From the acclaimed author of The Poisonwood Bible and The Bean Trees, a brilliant novel that enthralls, compels, and captures the heart as it evokes a young hero’s unforgettable journey to maturity.

Poisonwood
An international bestseller and a modern classic, this suspenseful epic of one family's tragic undoing and their remarkable reconstruction has been read, adored and shared by millions around the world. This story is told by the wife and four daughters of Nathan Price, a fierce, evangelical Baptist who takes his family and mission to the Belgian Congo in 1959.They carry with them everything they believe they will need from home, but soon find that all of it - from garden seeds to Scripture - is calamitously transformed on African soil.

1200 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2023

About the author

Barbara Ellen Kingsolver is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist, essayist, and poet. Her widely known works include The Poisonwood Bible, the tale of a missionary family in the Congo, and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, a nonfiction account of her family's attempts to eat locally. In 2023, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for the novel Demon Copperhead. Her work often focuses on topics such as social justice, biodiversity, and the interaction between humans and their communities and environments.
Kingsolver has received numerous awards, including the Dayton Literary Peace Prize's Richard C. Holbrooke Distinguished Achievement Award 2011 and the National Humanities Medal. After winning for The Lacuna in 2010 and Demon Copperhead in 2023, Kingsolver became the first author to win the Women's Prize for Fiction twice. Since 1993, each one of her book titles have been on the New York Times Best Seller list.
Kingsolver was raised in rural Kentucky, lived briefly in the Congo in her early childhood, and she currently lives in Appalachia. Kingsolver earned degrees in biology, ecology, and evolutionary biology at DePauw University and the University of Arizona, and worked as a freelance writer before she began writing novels. In 2000, the politically progressive Kingsolver established the Bellwether Prize to support "literature of social change".

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a great great book. I did not realize that I had not reviewed it. The characters are real and the situations- even the desperate ones- are authentic. Had not read any of her books before- I just loved this book. I am not saying that I agreed with everyone’s decisions- but that they were presented in a context that made them more understandable.

[Marilyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

*Spoilers Abound*

First, this review is only of "Demon Copperhead". I don't know how "Poisonwood Bible" popped up when I was trying to say I was currently reading "Demon".

At last! For the first time that I can remember, I read a Pulitzer Prize winner that I absolutely loved. I avoided reading this book for at least two years because I heard it was about "Appalachia and the Opioid Crisis", which sounded like something 'way too heavy to get any enjoyment from. But then, within no more than 3 pages, I was hooked on Demon's voice, his anger, his approach to his world (ANGRY!), and especially, his humor. His story is like a forest fire: hot, hot, hot, fast-moving, banging into things, unexpected turns and expected plunges, F bombs spilling out of his snarling mouth like bad fast food.

One would think that seven or eight hundred pages like this would get tiresome, but not for me. About two-thirds of the way through, I had that blessed feeling of "Oh God, I don't want this book to end! Let it go on forever!" Let Demon carom back and forth between Tennessee and Virginia, let him try to sleep behind that billboard and get ripped off by another hooker junkie! Let him cuddle up to his beloved, helpless Dori and disappear with her down the rathole of addiction! Let Coach finally come out of his drunken stupor long enough see that Demon cannot heal from a catastrophic football injury all on his lonesome and needs HELP! Please please please let him catch a break, thank you Jesus! Despite all his prickles, and he is a porcupine, you can't stop rooting for Demon Copperhead.

I simply can't pick out a section or chapter I liked more than the others, nor even a particular character. I loved them all, from the obsequious U-Haul (what a take on Dickens' Uriah Heep!) to poor best friend Maggott with his Goth pretensions, to the amazing Fast Forward, and completely lovable Peggott family. Barbara Kingsolver, I salute you as an absolute literary genius for this book. I'll never read another like it. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

[Beth Sasan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it, Barbara Kingsolver is a genius writer.

[Jennie Floyd · Rating 5 out of 5]

Her best book, IMO, and my favorite.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: I selected the wrong title. I only read Demon Copperhead. I read Poisonwood Bible years ago.

Loved this book. Ms. Kingsolver has told a true American tale, filled with some of our dark truths. She tells a story with a young narrator affected by poverty, addiction, his race/ethnicity and his home in Appalachia. Damon/ Demon, tells of of his life story with its real challenges, pain and losses while also giving us insight to some of the survivors in this community affected by so many woes.

This book brings to light some of the “why’s” of how addiction develops, the difficult path to recovery and the folks who make efforts along the way to intervene. This is a story with a lot of pain, but also a lot of heart.

It is a long book. I only gave it a 4 instead of a 5 because I think it could have been edited down a bit more. There’s a lot of in-depth discussion about football and many episodes with teens making dangerous choices. Ultimately, they all serve a purpose in making this community live for the reader, but I could have done with a little less.

[David K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting book from several viewpoints. This is the story of the “lost” part of the Eastern US, coal country which was plagued by job loss, closed mines, and rampant Oxycontin addiction. It follows a boy from an awful home situation at 9 years old through foster homes, high school and beyond. I felt the protagonist, a boy, written by a woman was quite believable. In my mind the plot was somewhat predictable and simplistic. I thought that some of the story was not realistic, though I do not know Appalachia from a personal standpoint. I felt the story got tied up too quickly considering everything that happened.

[Sara Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of her books and of coming of age books. Absolutely loved it, so was disappointed to see her criticizing Hillbilly Elegy author JD Vance, that he depicted Appalachian people in a negative way. Her book is very similar, so seems pretty hypocritical of her. Who are you to criticize his experience, Barbara? You're a better person than that.

[Sarah Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know when a book is so good you can’t put it down? You go to bed at night reading it, realizing at 2 in the morning that you should go to sleep. Waking up, reading this before work only to near the end and take 3 days to finish the last forty pages because you just can’t let the characters go yet. This book will forever live in my mind.

[Stacey · Rating 5 out of 5]

An unforgettable, tragic, in depth account of lives impacted by the opioid crisis strategically inflicted on small town America esp the Appalachians. Barbara Kingsolver brilliantly brings humanity to every character she creates while opening our eyes to grave injustices inflicted with criminal intent by corporate greed.

[H.E. Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved everything about this book. The child to adult progression in writing style, the tenderness that stayed with the Damon despite all the tragedy. The topics this book touches are the ones a nation tries to hide and blatantly ignores. So beautifully narrated, I had to put the book down when I only had 100 pages to read (a habit I have) because I didn't want to part with Damon.

[Stevie]

Oh my goodness. What a writer is Kingsolver. There was so much unsaid, yet creating a good idea of the storyline. The story was tough to read. Demon Copperhead, star of the story, was a total family-less
person. His story is amazing. My words don’t do
It justice.

[Michelle Wilson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The life of an abandoned child, that explains why he becomes addicted to drugs, not just the fact that he has a busted knee. The real people he discovers on his long path. Some characters less believable than others, but a wonderful story. Perhaps real also.

[Jen Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. It took me a while to pick up this book as the title lost me. I should have known that Barbara Kingsolver would deliver. The more pages her books have, the better the story, in my opinion. This was a fave.

[Colleen Heneghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty tragic… gut wrenching @ times.but so well done. The realities of poverty & addiction, the opiod crisis are all depicted so clearly.

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous book. Read the book and later listened to the audio. Well worth a second “read”.

[Monte Jones]

I didnt get very far into the novel and ended up abandoning it.

[abcrowlegmail.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best books I’ve ever read.

[Birdbath Birdbath · Rating 4 out of 5]

Demon has grit. He's intelligent

[janine fortney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow……just wow!! And listening to this as opposed to reading it, deepens the experience even more.

[Joyce Estes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Did not finish

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing book full of real people, bringing g them to life and seeing their trials and tribulations .

[Karen Newell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Demon Copperhead-one if the best books I have read. So many parallels to David Copperfield, yet so many differences. Equally haunting.

[Romney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story of an orphan boy coming of age. Tough life and bad decisions. Book was too long but did finally have a happy ending

[Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing!

[Mari Ella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing, brilliant!

[Holly Fry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too long. I liked the end of the book. I felt there were a lot of unnecessary pages. Well written and deep characters

[Elise · Rating 2 out of 5]

Way too long. Billed as a retelling of “David Copperfield,” it fails pretty miserably.

[Erin Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

Took me forever to finish this book. I wanted to hate it but did end up liking it at the end.

[Kay Stapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5⭐️

[Raafter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doesn't end badly despite numerous opportunities. Sad tale of Kentucky/ W Virginia opioid mess...