Bark On

"Bark On is one of the strongest debut novels I've read in years. There's nothing weak about it, in fact: from the sentences to the story to the beating heart of it all, this book has an extraordinary musculature. I really enjoyed this novel."

"Every sentence, every paragraph, is dense with inventive language. [...] Driven by uncanny energy and imagination, Bark On is a gripping and insightful novel..."

"Bark On is a novel squarely and worthily in the tradition of such high-style masters of Southern vernacular as Barry Hannah and Cormac McCarthy. It immerses you in the coastal-Carolina low country, where the streets are 'named for the nearest water threatening to sink them, ' where 'thunderheads anvil down' and the language is a flood of startling invention that somehow feels both ancient and inevitable. It takes you both inside the world of elite triathlon training and to the extreme edge of that already-extreme sport, exposing the 'meticulously random' cycle-of-abuse training methods of a charismatic, celebrated coach and two young, uncelebrated prospects he's grinding down and grooming. This is an outstanding and even breathtaking debut by Mason Boyles-a novelist who's here for the long haul."

"Boyle's novel is an intense, hectic work with a terrific premise and lifelike, earthy characters that all easily express what drives them. The narrative shows a fervor for language and boundless energy..."

"Mason Boyles is an electrifying writer, pushing language to its limits in this propulsive novel, as remarkable and uncompromising as the ultra-endurance athletes he conjures here indelibly. Sentences crackle with vitality and surprise. Characters brim with fierce convictions. Every detail of this world-the coastal South, the Ironman subculture-proves impossible to forget. This book marks the introduction of a new and important American voice."