Aransas: A Novel

By: Stephen Harrigan

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Synopsis: &“Beneath the genial surface&” of this &“resonant&” first novel about a dolphin trainer who struggles with the ethics of his job &“allusive undercurrents tug&” (The New York Times Book Review). A critically acclaimed debut novel first published in 1980, Aransas recounts a young man&’s homecoming to his small Gulf Coast fishing town of Port Aransas. As Jeff Downing begins work training two porpoises to become part of a tourist attraction, he comes to love them as well as the woman who wants to release the pair to the wild. &“The sureness and poise of this first novel are as remarkable as the sharpness, oddity, and clarity of its feelings.&” ―Newsweek &“Harrigan&’s eye for locale and its effect is superb.&” —Washington Post Book World &“Harrigan . . . Has a sharp eye for observing man, beast, seashore, and town in a vividly drawn setting.&” ―Publishers Weekly &“An ardent and elegant book, beautiful in its language, mature in its perceptions, noble in its sentiments.&” ―San Francisco Chronicle &“Sensitive [and] enormously evocative first . . . Spare but warm prose . . . Immerses us in atmosphere as insistently as it does the plot . . . Harrigan is a splendid novelist.&” —Houston Post &“Aransas has several surprises, including dramatic suspense, counterculture revisionism, and what must be considered dolphin revisionism. More, Harrigan has written an acute American regional novel.&” —The Village Voice