Beachcombing for a Shipwrecked God - Softcover

"Beachcombing for a Shipwrecked God is the kind of book I'm always hoping to find: a story so absorbing, with characters so convincing, that real life must be set aside while the pages fly. It is the proverbial Great Read, where you can't rest until the story's been told-- beautifully-- and all its secrets have been confided." --Elinor Lipman

"As eccentric a collection of characters as you'll ever meet take up living together in a boat, and navigate the waters of their own literal and psychic histories. In this fine writer's hand, the lessons they learn are alternately hilarious and serious, drawn with a wise wit, compassionate eye, and intelligent heart."--Jonis Agee

Nine weeks after losing her husband, Charlotte escapes to a wooden houseboat where her shipmates are an aging blue-haired widow, an emotional seventeen-year-old, and the ugliest dog in literature. Gradually, a genuine friendship develops between the three women, united by the cramped quarters that confine them.

Off the boat, Charlotte, an archeologist, joins a local excavation to uncover an ancient graveyard. Here she can indulge her passion for reconstructing the past, even as she tries to bury her own recent history.

Beachcombing for a Shipwrecked God is Joe Coomer's best and most substantial novel to date. Throughout, Coomer's light touch and agile turn of phrase make this an unusually refreshing read.

"This is a truly wonderful novel; humorous, but also profoundly moving. Its characters are so authentic and genuine they become an enduring presence off the page." --André Dubus III

Joe Coomer is the author of a work of nonfiction, Dream House, in which he describes the building of his home in Texas. His previous novels include A Flatland Fable, which is to be made into a major motion picture, and The Loop, which was a New York Times Book of the Year in 1993.

Praise for Joe Coomer

THE LOOP

Impossible to resist.
The New Yorker

Read this book-- and feel better while you wait for the world to make sense.
New York Times Book Review

DREAM HOUSE

Joe Coomer's engaging chronicle is a reminder that building a house is not only about wood and nails but also about memories, hopes and dreams.
Witold Rybczynski

A FLATLAND FABLE

Absorbing, astonishing, and lovely.
Publishers Weekly

Coomer manages to write the world into a small space, and like a brain surgeon with his scalpel, wields his pen accurately and incisively ... a master of lyric brevity.
Texas Observer