NAME ALL THE ANIMALS: A Memoir

New York, NY, U.S.A.: Scribner, 2004. 1st Edition 1st Printing. Hardcover. As New/Fine. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. A luminous, poignant true story, Alison Smith's stunning first book, NAME ALL THE ANIMALS,is an unparalleled account of grief and secret love: the tale of a family clinging to the memory of a lost child, and a young woman struggling to define herself in the wake of his loss.As children, siblings Alison and Roy Smith were so close that their mother called them by one name: Alroy. But on a cool summer morning when Alison was fifteen, she woke to learn that Roy, eighteen, was dead. This is Smith's extraordinary account of the impact of that loss -- on herself, on her parents, and on a deeply religious community. An intimate book written in clear-eyed prose, NAME ALL THE ANIMALS announces a brilliant new writer with a keen insight into the emotional life of the American family, the power of sibling love and loyalty, and the excruciating joy of first, forbidden love. Smith tells the story through her own fifteen-year-old eyes, with such expert pacing and narrative suspense that readers will find the book hard to put down. As new, first edition, first printing, in fine, mylar-protected dust jacket.[Not remainder-marked or price-clipped] NFBS1