{"product_id":"last-day-9780525510833","title":"Last Day","description":"\u003cb\u003eA \u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES \u003c\/i\u003eNOTABLE BOOK - The fates of a cast of seemingly unconnected people converge during the celebration of an ancient holiday in \"a darkly glittering novel\" (\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e) that brings to mind \u003ci\u003eStation Eleven \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eThe Age of Miracles\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"A beautifully written, thought-provoking book about life at the end.\"--\u003ci\u003eRefinery29\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In Domenica Ruta's profoundly original novel, the end of the world comes once a year. Every May 28, humanity gathers to anticipate the planet's demise--and to celebrate as if the day is truly its last. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e On this holiday, three intersecting sets of characters embark on a possibly last-chance quest for redemption. In Boston, bookish wunderkind \u003cb\u003eSarah\u003c\/b\u003e is looking for love and maybe a cosmic reversal from the much older \u003cb\u003eKurt\u003c\/b\u003e, a tattoo artist she met at last year's Last Day BBQ--but he's still trying to make amends to the family he destroyed long ago. Dysfunctional \u003cb\u003eKaren\u003c\/b\u003e keeps getting into trouble, especially when the voices she's been hearing coax her to abandon everything to search for her long-lost adoptive brother; her friend \u003cb\u003eRosette\u003c\/b\u003e has left the Jehovah's Witnesses to follow a new pastor at the Last Kingdom on Earth, where she brings Karen on this fateful day. Meanwhile, above them all, three astronauts on the International Space Station, \u003cb\u003eBear\u003c\/b\u003e, an American; Russian \u003cb\u003eSvec\u003c\/b\u003e; and billionaire Japanese space tourist \u003cb\u003eYui\u003c\/b\u003e, contemplate their lives as well as their precious Earth from afar. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e With sparkling wit, verbal ingenuity, and wild imagination, Ruta has created an alternate world in which an ancient holiday brings into stark reflection our deepest dreams, desires, hopes, and fears. In this tour-de-force debut novel she has written a dazzling, haunting love letter to humanity and to our planet. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eLast Day\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"In Ruta's fiction debut, each May 28 people around the world gather to celebrate what could be the end of the world. The author chooses seven quite different characters, tied together in various ways (romantically, for one pair; orbiting Earth on a space station for three others). Her focus on individual needs and choices as disaster potentially looms gives her story emotional heft.\"\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Domenica Ruta's empathy is broad and deep, her prose fine-grained, her humor sharp but tender. \u003ci\u003eLast Day \u003c\/i\u003eis a life-affirming antidote to these pre-apocalyptic times.\"\u003cb\u003e--Teddy Wayne, author of \u003ci\u003eLoner\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Random House Trade\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/05\/2021\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780525510833\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.90h x 5.10w x 0.80d","brand":"Domenica Ruta","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":38015789334709,"sku":"9780525510833","price":14.45,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_b08f45a6-15b7-4ab0-ac62-73a40db762dc.jpg?v=1609155733","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/last-day-9780525510833","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}