Filling in the remarkable backstory of Jaws' maverick fisherman, Lautner's inspired novel follows Quint from the sinking of the USS Indianapolis to his shark-battling days on Amity in spare, punchy and unforgettable prose.
Fifteen years since I landed on Amity, an island full of rich folks adrift between the Hamptons and Montauk.
Got a business and a boat, got me a truck with my name and a pretty shark scratched on the door. Carved it myself. Bad job.
I got ghosts around me, lot of ghosts. Gotta put ‘em somewhere. Can’t drink ‘em all. Ain’t here for company, and I only got two stories for telling company anyways.
Thinking if I get them stories down, on paper mind, then that’s just between me and the ink.
You already know the end of his story: now find out where it all began. So much more than a fisherman, Quint is a survivor, a fighter, a man who has left three wives in his wake.
From his time as a young sailor facing the horrors of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis, to a deadly night-long showdown with a frenzy of sharks years later, before he finally settles on the island of Amity: this extraordinary act of literary ventriloquism is a vivid and utterly compelling reimagining of the life of a truly iconic character.
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
ISBN: 9780008647469
Number of pages: 288
Weight: 500 g
Dimensions: 240 x 159 x 28 mm
'QUINT is more than an uncannily brilliant impersonation of voice, it's a story that feels like it was there from the start. This is a book to be swallowed whole' EVIE WYLD ‘Excellent… a profound portrait of a life dislocated by war and violence’ THE TIMES, Best Summer Reads 'Lautner … has carved out the literary missing link between Moby Dick and The Old Man and the Sea, and gone a long way to putting some of the balls back into serious English fiction' Giles Coren, THE TIMES ‘Whisky-soaked, guttural, stinking and funny' Evie Wyld, OBSERVER 'Incredible… an absolute masterclass in voice… this is going to be one of my books of the year' JOANNA CANNON 'QUINT brilliantly deconstructs a savage archetype that is scarce in today’s sanitised world… if Hemingway’s Old Man and the Sea was doused in whiskey and strained through the gills of a tiger shark, it would not sound dissimilar… one of this year’s literary miracles' IRISH INDEPENDENT 'Clear your diary. Strong, silent Quint is going to tell you his story — and it’s the bastard child of WW2 and Moby Dick, the sweet spot between thrilling, brutal adventure and the poetic voice of the American working man, as if Raymond Chandler were a veteran deep-sea fisherman, steeped in Steinbeck and sneering at Hemingway… thrilling, brutal, poetic, literary and irresistible, one of the 21st century’s first great 20th-century American novels' LOUISA YOUNG 'An act of literary ventriloquism… uncanny… one of the most surprising literary miracles I’ve come across in a long time' Hilary White, RTÉ 'Highly enjoyable, and a must-read for any Jaws officionado' BUZZ magazine 'I loved its urgent voice, its layering of such a complex character, and its deft handling of the uncanny valley between Benchley’s character and Robert Shaw’s enduring screen portrayal’ SCOTTISH FIELD
It matters not whether you’ve seen Jaws. This is a brilliant character study; Quint as a person with flaws, quirks and frailties leaps off every page, I saw Jaws on release 50 years ago and it was memorable for many... More
I first saw Jaws as a child and, like most people, it had a huge impact - I became scared that even the swimming pool might contain a shark but also a lifelong fan of Steven Spielberg. It's a film that even today... More
I recently re-read Peter Benchley’s “Jaws” (1974) recently because I was aware of this novel on the horizon which is a memoir of main character Quint. Now, I’m not totally convinced that the shark fisherman is the... More
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