Thirteen Albatrosses (or, Falling off the Mountain)

Editing Thirteen Albatrosses (or, Falling off the Mountain)

Cover of first edition
Author	Donald Harington
Language	English
Series	Stay More cycle
Genre	Literary fiction
Publisher	The Toby Press
Publication date	September 2006
Publication place	United States
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	400 pp
ISBN	1-59264-168-7

Thirteen Albatrosses (or Falling off a Mountain) is an American novel written by Donald Harington. It was published in 2002.

Plot

First Part: Primary

Vernon Ingledew decided to run for governor. He has no political experience whatsoever, but he was the great-great-great-grandson of Jacob Ingledew, who had been the governor of Arkansas during Reconstruction. Day, Vernon’s best friend, and Diana, Day’s wife, discuss with Don and Kim how they expected Vernon to run for governor and why he might have decided to run. Vernon is a genius and he had a self-enriching program he used to learn things. He would spend one year learning everything there is to know about two subjects starting at the beginning of the alphabet. He learned everything there is to know about art history and astronomy when he started this “program.” Vernon got to “P” and alphabetically after philosophy came politics so he decided the best way to learn politics was to become a politician.

Characters

• Vernon Ingledew – running for governor, atheist, never attending college, lives in sin with his first cousin, Jelena, displays a hysterically cryptic vocabulary
• Jelena Ingledew - Vernon’s first cousin and “living partner”
• Day Whittacker – Vernon’s best friend
• Diana Whittacker – Day’s wife

Elements

• Extirpate

To pull up by the roots. To destroy totally; exterminate.

• Politics – running for governor

Reception

“Harington is the greatest writer living in America. This book resonates…” - Peter Straub

“Wild, weird, and wonderful.” - KIRKUS (starred review)