Description
Book SynopsisFormer high school classmates reckon with the death of a friend in this stunning debut novel.
Trade Review"This novel; this portrayal of American youth—tender, and tough, and searching; this voice, which absorbs and transforms tragedy into elegy; this is one I've been waiting for.
All the Water I've Seen Is Running is a mesmerizing look at friendship and loss, and Elias Rodriques is a devastating wonder." -- Justin Torres, author of We the Animals
"
All the Water I've Seen Is Running is an absorbing meditation on the power of memory and the people and places that make us who we are. Daniel’s captivating excavation of his past made me reflect on the different pieces of ourselves we have to bury for survival." -- Maisy Card, author of These Ghosts Are Family
"In this story of a Florida homegoing, Elias Rodriques builds a raw and poignant poetry out of colloquial speech. Race, friendship, sex, the violent bluster and hopeful tenderness of youth, running and swimming and gigging for flounder, guilt and grief, the past that slips through your fingers and the past that rides heavy on your shoulders—many deep tributaries merge here, in a river that meets the sea." -- Chad Harbach, author of The Art of Fielding
"Rodriques brings a lyrical touch to his hero’s inner life, making his past pains and present-day heartbreaks feel bone-deep. A well-turned exploration of how intensely place and history shape our identities." -- Kirkus
"[A] fresh and rhapsodic debut...This melancholy story is a startling and necessary addition to the canon of works that parse what it means to grow up in the American South." -- Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"[A] poignant debut… Rodriques reimagines the traditional tight-lipped detective who’s at the mercy of an unjust world, infusing both the malaise and sociopolitical concerns of his generation into a novel built on other noir staples...Rodriques’s prose is as measured as it is nuanced." -- Jakob Guanzon - New York Times
"
All the Water I’ve Seen is Running not only examines growing up, leaving home, changing, and then returning, but also examines how masculinity and maleness can ebb and flow depending on context... In rhythmic prose that belies the seriousness of the topic, Rodriques examines what it is to reconsider male friendship in adulthood, to balance newfound beliefs and acceptances, and to understand that who someone was as a teenager isn’t the person they are now." -- Teddy Burnette - Ploughshares
"This stunning, lyrical novel is a beautiful account of grief, memory, adolescence, and so much more. I loved the vivid Florida setting. I loved the complicated and specific depiction of race and sexuality. I loved seeing characters bounce off each other and change each other and perform for each other. This is a really special book." -- Sara Sligar, author of Take Me Apart
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All the Water I’ve Seen Is Running is an impressive debut about the intersectionality of identity and memory, revealing how where we live and who we love can embed themselves so deeply, there is no escape." -- Rachel León - Chicago Review of Books
"Rodriques’ striking debut expands the geography of regional literature and convincingly demands acknowledgment of under-explored perspectives." -- Shoba Viswanathan - Booklist
