Visions

A hypnotic descent from childhood to adulthood. A boy sees angels, finds love, loses it, and becomes heartbreakingly aware of the world around him. Using a dreamy prose that calls to mind the films of Harmony Korine, Weaver crafts a deft and disturbing portrait of the young life of a David Koresh-like cult figure. "Troy James Weaver's novel unravels the typical coming-of-age story. It erases the distinction between finding and losing your voice, becoming enlightened by a vision and swallowed by darkness. The plot moves at a breathless pace and the unsettling details linger, hovering at the edge of what can be fully understood." -Jeff Jackson, author of Mira Corpora "A noir fueled as much by the dread of what might happen as what actually occurs, with a narrator teetering on the edge of something very dark indeed. Beautifully sparse and precise, like someone tapping softly on your skull with a ball-peen hammer trying to feel out the perfect place to crack it open." -Brian Evenson, author of Windeye and A Collapse of Horses "Visions moves at a manic pace reminiscent of Hannah's Ray. The story breathes, bleeds, pulses. It's fragmented yet fluid, bleak but not without hope. Don't be fooled by the thin spine - you may blaze through this book in an afternoon but it will burn a hole in your head. Weaver speaks the truth and I hope to hell everybody is listening." -Nat Baldwin, musician (Dirty Projectors) "Untimely death, Richard Ramirez, child abuse, violence, poverty, loneliness... somehow Troy James Weaver is able to take all these ugly facets of humanity and combine them into something so beautiful that it feels almost holy." -Juliet Escoria, author of Black Cloud "Visions is a coming-of-age, Harmony Korine-style, This Boy's Life-meets-Wise Blood fever dream that Troy James Weaver carved into some Ouija board he later used to summon the spirits of David Koresh, Jesus Christ, and Richard Ramirez. I can't even begin to tell you how insane and beautiful this book is." -Brian Alan Ellis, author of Something Good, Something Bad, Something Dirty "Troy James Weaver's Visions is a smart and disturbing book, told in a voice as haunting as the cultish world it portrays. All those strange voices and visions packed into this slim novella, rendered with an honest complexity make this a remarkable achievement. I'm glad to have read it." -Brandon Hobson, author of Deep Ellum