In his fifth novel, celebrated writer Scott Bradfield delivers an arresting and unsentimental childhood voice.
Salome Jensen is three years old when she is taken from her home by the man who fixes the hot
water heater. As Sal drifts through Laundromats and other people’s homes, she develops a perspective of the
world and an understanding of its people more meaningful than the most erudite observer could muster.
The People Who Watched Her Pass By is often hilarious as well as startling, and a poignant
new contribution to the body of literature of a respected prose craftsman.
"Scott Bradfield is an otherworldy writer. There is an inarguable wholeness to
[The People Who Watched Her Pass By], as in certain dreams." -Paul Maliszewski, Rain Taxi
"Brave and unforgettable. Scott Bradfield creates a country for the reader to wander through,
holding Sal's hand, assuming goodness." -Susan Salter Reynolds, Los Angeles Times
"This gem of a novel is by turn instructive, incisive, beautifully vivid, and funny." -Claire Kelley, TK Reviews
"I read Scott Bradfield's new novel with a pencil in hand, enthusiastically underlining his clever remarks
and turns of phrase. This short novel is a wake-up call shouting Bradfield's humorously erudite take on
modern American life. I enjoyed this unusual story immensely." -Kassie Rose, WOSU
"Bradfield keeps a wary distance from his homeland [the U.S.], employing his outcast narrators to do his dirty
work: sneaking into suburban neighborhoods and peering into bedroom windows just to reaffirm that a home is
nothing but nails and wood. The People Who Watched Her Pass By is uninterested in superficial compassion.
To follow Sal on her wanderings is to drive straight into the Zen void at the heart of the classic road novel." -Ross Simonini, Bookforum
"This short novel is filled with wisdom. Bradfield's humorously erudite take on modern
American life so overwhelmed me with memorable goodies, I grabbed a pencil and began
underlining. I enjoyed this quirky story immensely." -Kassie Rose, The Longest Chapter
"Jonathan Lethem has called Scott Bradfield one of his favorite living writers, and after reading The People
Who Watched Her Pass By, I can understand why. Bradfield's fifth novel is narrated by a three year-old
girl ... [who is] easily one of the most memorable narrators I have read in years." -Largehearted Boy,
[Book Notes]
"Scott Bradfield is] an adept prose stylist, and his portrayal of children as symbols instead of individuals
is incisive." -Publishers Weekly
8.8/10 "A lyrical, surreal, surprisingly poetic tale, a journey across the backwater parts of
the US that by the end becomes an intriguing combination of Sam Shepard and David Lynch."
-Jason Pettus, Chicago Center for Literature and Photography
* Excerpted in Black Clock's Summer 2009 Issue.
* Excerpted in September issue of Neue Rundschauer.
“Bradfield is one of my favorite living writers.” -Jonathan Lethem
“Scott Bradfield has not simply staked out new literary terrain . . . he has mapped and colonized
an entire new planet.” -Michael Chabon
“A wizardly writer.” -Tobias Wolff
“Painfully beautiful writing.” -Mary Gaitskill
“A master chronicler of the absurdity, emptiness, and beauty that riddle modern life.”
-Caroline Hsu, The Washington Post
“A born novelist in a way Orwell never set out to be.”
-Will Hobson, The Observer
“Bradfield remains an inventive stylist who is leaving lots of tiny bite marks on T.C. Boyle's ankles.
This puppy can howl.” -Henry Alford, The New York Times
"Combining elements of Thomas Pynchon, David Lynch
and - of all people - James Thurber, Bradfield charts the soft
underbelly of contemporary America." -Sunday Telegraph
"There is something in Bradfield's approach to the
mystery of things that inevitably recalls the "Martian" poets or even
the work of Nicholson Baker, although Bradfield is a sharper, deeper
writer than these. He is always a joy to read, whether ironic and
cutting as he surveys millenial chaos, or disturbing and disorienting
in his intimations of mortality - individual and collective." -New Statesman
"Bradfield is a wild card, the Raymond Carver of the
crystal-healing set." -Independent
Scott Bradfield has published stories, reviews, and essays in places as varied as
Bookforum, Poetry, Triquarterly, Fence, Fantasy and Science Fiction,
The Pushcart Prize Collection, The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories,
TLS, The New York Times Book Review, Black Clock, The New York Ghost, and
Neue Rundschauer. His books include The History of Luminous Motion, What's Wrong with
America, Animal Planet, Greetings From Earth, and most recently, Good Girl Wants
it Bad and Hot Animal Love: Tales of Modern Romance.
If you are affiliated with a media review outlet and would like to receive an advance reading
copy of The People Who Watched Her Pass By, contact Brian Obenauf at
brian [at] twodollarradio.com. We can now provide either a galley or digital copy of the book.
Scott Bradfield has published stories, reviews, and essays in places as varied as
Bookforum, Poetry, Triquarterly, Fence, Fantasy and Science Fiction,
The Pushcart Prize Collection, The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories,
TLS, The New York Times Book Review, Black Clock, The New York Ghost, and
Neue Rundschauer. His books include The History of Luminous Motion, What's Wrong with
America, Animal Planet, Greetings From Earth, and most recently, Good Girl Wants
it Bad and Hot Animal Love: Tales of Modern Romance.