Sun House

A Novel

By: David James Duncan

Narrated by: Robb Moreira, Barrie Kreinik, Elena Rey, Henry Leyva, Mark Bedard, L. J. Ganser, Jenn Lee, Joseph Discher

An epic comedy about love, spirit, and the quest for transcendence in an anything-but-transcendent America, from the author of the perennial cult bestsellers The River Why and The Brothers K.

A random bolt from a DC-8 falls from the sky, killing a child and throwing the faith of a young Jesuit Jesuit into crisis. A boy’s mother dies on his fifth birthday, sparking a lifetime of repressed anger that he unleashes once a year in reckless duels with the Fate, God, or Power who let the coincidence happen. A young woman on a run in Seattle experiences a shooting star moment that pierces her with a love that will eventually help heal the Jesuit, the angry young man, and innumerable others.

The journeys of this unintentional menagerie carry them to the healing lands of Montana and a newly founded community—where nothing tastes better than Maker's Mark mixed with glacier ice, and nothing seems less likely than the soul-filling delight a troupe of spiritual refugees, urban sophisticates, road-weary musicians, and local cowboys begin to find in each other's company.

With Sun House, David James Duncan continues exploring the American search for meaning and love that he began in his acclaimed novels The River Why and The Brothers K. This stunning novel, set amid the gorgeous landscapes of the American West, illuminates the contemporary world through the prisms of Eastern wisdom, cast-off ecstatic religious ideals, and the unpredictable, expansive yearnings of the human heart.

©2023 David James Duncan (P)2023 Little, Brown & Company

Critic reviews

“Like all truly extraordinary novels, the luminous Sun House is not a mere book, but a singular world in which the reader comes to reside, and to feel more alive. Told in rollicking prose laced with ab-tightening humor and high-lonesome lyricism, this immersive, sweeping tale locates the grand in the smallest particulars, and reaches its heights only after traversing the wild and sometimes steep country of the heart. To open the door to Duncan’s long-awaited masterwork is to be flooded with light and loss, and to find, ultimately, hard-won hope.”—CHRIS DOMBROWSKI, author of The River You Touch

“There are books that make you a happy insomniac and Sun House is absolutely one of them, like Quixote or Moby or Copperfield, the kind when you wake at three in the morning you remember that beside the bed is a thousand-room mansion of a novel, where every door opens to unexpected weather and a keen sense of appetite. Here is the best part: while these characters come in all shades of funny and searching and rueful and indignant, they are all right there and as wide awake as you are. A new big book from David James Duncan? This is a lucky time to be a reader.”—LEIF ENGER, author of Peace Like a River

"Jim Harrison meets Robert M. Pirsig, Timothy Leary, and the Dalai Lama in Duncan’s long-awaited follow-up to The River Why (1983) and The Brothers K (1992)...arch and bookish (Gary Snyder makes a cameo appearance), [Sun House] will prove captivating to those who enjoy novels of ideas—in this case, one that modernizes the Western by injecting it with ethnic diversity and doses of philosophy (and LSD, even)...a book by a first-rate writer and one to be savored."—Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW

Much anticipated…

This amazing epic novel falls short of expectations… seems still in draft form, in need of some ruthless editing. The story is truly wonderful, but often goes on longer than necessary. The narrators are too often over the top, painfully dramatic, distracting & disturbing to listen, truly ruined the storytelling for me. Overall so disappointing since I’m such an admirer of this author.

Beautiful Universalising Faith

I loved the multiple voices telling the multiple storylines. The comprehensive understanding of Spirit by Duncan is nourishing!

I didn’t want it to end.

I loved everything about this book. The characters and the actors who brought them to life.

What stands out the most:

I have loved DJD books, and while longer and more rambling, this also fits the bill. Readers of Tom Robbins will also enjoy.

However, it is a real shame that nobody checked the Portland-area reader’s pronunciation of “Willamette.” Every time he says “Willa- met” it pops me out of the story. I really hope Couch St factors not at all into this story.

A mystics paradise

For one who loves all things, mystic, and yet grounded. There’s a book hits every note for me. It will be proudly placed on the shelf next to my favorite books all the time. Thanks again DJD

Tears and laughter

“May God break my heart so completely that the whole world falls in.”
-Mother Teresa

These words, written through the spirit of David James Duncan, are as though sent by God to break your heart so that all of life and spirit and love can fill you. Through this story, the ineffable is made palpable. These words are experienced, not merely heard. These words will lift you to new heights, even as you are crushed by the weight of the sky.

And the narrators! What life they bring to these characters! They aren’t reading words spoken by these characters. They ARE these characters. They create living beings, possessing of the spirit of real flesh and blood.

This book chronicles the lives of numerous characters over decades of their experiences. Imagine all of the beautiful and numinous things that might occur during this time frame. Imagine the unbearable pain. And somehow, we are able to overcome. Add to this uncanny spiritual insight and you have Sun House, a tale of life lived intentionally.

Thank you, David James Duncan. You have broken my heart and opened me up to all the world.

The most important story I have yet heard

David James Duncan has written into existence a vision so prescient and relevant that I pray that it takes root in the hearts and lives of as many people as possible! Please read and laugh and cry and cry again and allow the beauty of this story to pierce you so thoroughly that you find yourself a part of its hope and divine inspiration!

Awesome!

Multiple narrators were flawlessly orchestrated. Story was detailed, interesting and well told. Character development was amazing. I loved each and everyone of them. Overall message of the book instilled in me hope for this world that I haven’t had in a very long time.

Too saccharine to finish

I wanted to like it. Warning: it is very long—too long. And the absence of believable characters and dialogue, and the over abundance of earnest monologues and fortuitous coincidences defies belief.

Im over 20 hours invested in this story, with 9 to go. I. Just. Cant. Anymore.

Oh yeah, the narrator butchers the word “Willamette” everytime it comes up in this hyper local story centered in Portland, OR. I wish the editors in stories like this would make sure narrators pronounce proper names correctly. they ring like a cracked bell everytime its repeated (which is often in this tale).

Devastatingly beautiful

Wow, what a story. I love the complexity, I love the inter-weaving, lifelines of the characters, and the way the author takes his time building. Each one into a multi faceted structure you can feel, and almost holding your hand.
I wonder if this book would have the same impact if one was not a spiritual seeker, a Devotie of some type? I can’t know that, but from my heart that is hungry for God in all forms of this book, so deeply to me.
A powerful book, and one not to be missed.