Zazen

By Vanessa Veselka

From the author of the National Book Award longlisted epic The Great Offshore Grounds, here is the debut novel that launched her career—a story of activism, police violence, and white guilt in a not so distant dystopian America.

“An ambitious encapsulation of our modern times, Zazen tackles counterculture hipsters, geology, Buddhism, consumerism, terrorism, veganism, family drama, and, above all, love." —Judges' Citation, PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize

The world is on fire, and Della doesn’t know what, if anything, she should do about it.

The country is poised on the brink of war. Curfews and other restrictions give the police an excuse for violence. Customers at the vaguely vegan cafe where Della is working after dropping out of grad school debate which foreign countries are the best to flee to: Costa Rica? Bali? Della’s parents—former revolutionaries—are more excited at the idea of her brother and his Black wife giving them biracial grandbabies than in engaging in any new actions; her nominally activist coworkers are mostly devoted to planning a massive sex party. Della floats between them, lost and numb. 

Then a bomb goes off: some shallow place of capitalistic worship demolished. Inspired, for reasons not entirely clear to herself, Della calls in a second—fake—bomb threat. But a bomb goes off there, too, and soon Della finds herself pulled in by a group of people who, for once, are promising to actually do something. No matter the consequences. Prescient when it was first published, Vanessa Veselka’s debut novel is even more revolutionary now. 
 
A VINTAGE ORIGINAL.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9780593314906

Reviews for Zazen

[anderlawlor · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Well I can tell how much this book was marketed to me by the sheer number of my categories I think it fits. Also by the sheer number of people telling me for like a year how amazing it was. So I finally got it together to read ZAZEN and it actually held up to the hype. Exceeded, even. I want to gather my thoughts and say something more but for now I would say, read this, like-minded friends.

[sonjayoerg · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel deserves more attention. It's intriguing both in style and content without being difficult. Try it!

[laurajwryan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this book, and have found it difficult to put it down even now that I've finished it, I’ve dog-eared many pages and the cover already has that “loved” appearance. Zazen is a little-big book, a book of its time, yet it is made from the ancient bones of brave writing — the exquisite storytelling has that special, timeless magic to make this book a classic. Vanessa Veselka’s Della possesses a wry sense of humor that hits its mark with hilarious honesty that can make you laugh and break your heart at the same time in a way that I truly appreciate. Della’s matter-of-fact voice carried me on a journey through a landscape that was both unfamiliar and yet I knew it as home, and accepted it, bombs, Wal-Mart n’ all. At the same time that I feared for Della’s safety and sanity, I knew she was made of sterner stuff, and I knew that I, as the reader, was in good hands. This book will make the faint of heart reader squirm, and the bold reader will adore it for its unique qualities. I will not only recommend the book to anyone who I know will appreciate it, it’s a book that I will give to another reader as a present only because I feel they must read it. Kudos to Vanessa Veselka for writing this beautiful little-big book, and big thank you to Richard Nash & Red Lemonade for publishing such a precious gem!

[caryn0rose · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I couldn't put it down, but I am equally sure I didn't 'get' so much of it - but I didn't care. She has such amazing turns of phrase they just made me pause and read the lines over and over again.

[kgib_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

She writes really well about the present, which I think is hard to do. One of the central questions in the book is, what's the moral thing to do when a society is corrupt/broken/falling apart... the reader has to try to figure that out along with the narrator. Made me think about the Weather Underground and Merry in American Pastoral.