The Dive From Clausen's Pier

By: Ann Packer

Narrated by: Scarlett Johansson

A suspenseful, richly layered first novel that asks: How much do we owe the people we love?

THE DIVE FROM CLAUSEN'S PIER will speak to all those who have ever thought about leaving when they knew they should stay, anyone who has ever felt trapped, not only by circumstance, but by the strength of their own love, Carrie Bell has lived in Wisconsin all her life. She's had the same best friend, the same good relationship with her mother, the same boyfriend, for as long as anyone can remember. But when her fiance, Mike is paralyzed by a tragic accident, Carrie has to question everything she thought she knew about herself and about the meaning of home.

Ann Packer has written a morally complex, deeply satisfying novel about the desire to live fully and the conflict between who we want to be to others and who we must be for ourselves. A magnificent debut from a remarkable new talent.©2002 Ann Packer; (P)2002 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The novels it calls most to mind. . . . are Allegra Goodman's 'Kaaterskill Falls' and Sue Miller's 'The Good Mother'. . . .its most admirable trait -- and surely the one that will define Packer's future work -- is its moral authenticity." --Gail Caldwell, Boston Globe

"The Dive from Clausen's Pier is one of those small miracles that reinforce our faith in fiction. It does what the best novels so often do, making the largest things visible by its perfect rendering of life on the smaller scale. It is witty, tragic and touching, and beguiling from the first page." --Scott Turow

"A reflective and probing first novel...there's not a false note in the story's tentative resolution, which thwarts our initial expectations in order to satisfy more complex demands...Very fine fiction indeed." --Kirkus Reviews

"This is the sort of book one reads dying to know what happens to the characters, but loves for its wisdom: it sees the world with more clarity than you do." --Publishers Weekly

"Ann Packer’s first novel has all the weight of reality, tooled with a jeweler’s precision. The Dive from Clausen's Pier is a poignant and painstakingly rendered account of a woman in flight from catastrophe, in search of herself."--Madison Smartt Bell

You just want to shake her

I made the mistake of buying the abridged version of this book, so didn't care for it much. However, I think if I had read the longer version, I might have slit my wrists. This girl is really annoying. She doesn't know what she wants or who she wants and just glides through life. You just want to smack her.

Decent

This story was decent. Nothing special. The story was a mediocre one. It was special in the beginning, but went nowhere the rest of the book. Moreoever, the narrator's voice was annoying. She sounded bored just reading it. I know this was a best-seller, but I was not impressed.

A decent book, not a great one, but good enough.

I listened to this, then several months later read it for my book group. Both times I found it enjoyable but not great. However, my own son is leaving Wisconsin soon to go to school in New York City, so I find myself recalling bits of the main character's life there -- you never know when something you read in the past will become significant.

top five dude. listen while BlackOut.

At one man. àaaaa aww qqqq qqqq. waq qq aww www rrr rrr yyy

readers review

I just finished listening to this book. If I had to listen to that annoying voice for any more length time I don't think I would have finished it. Good story weak on plot, unfinished ending