Country People

A fantastical journey through family, folktales and a world beneath our feet … the whole thing is delivered in prose so witty and gorgeous that it calls to mind Nabokov’s comic masterpiece Pnin, surely another of the book’s literary antecedents. This is, put simply, a joyful book - and the deeper you dig, the more joyful it becomes * Guardian *
Mason deftly delivers larks aplenty, poignancy, gentle satire and some top-tier farce. Be warned that the latter may cause you to spontaneously erupt with mirth in public places. This book dispels gloom: go for it * Irish Times *
Very funny … a perfect summer escape … as tasty and oddly shaped as an organic apple * Financial Times *
There’s genuine enchantment in this earthy tale of city folk transplanted to rural New England … It’s a warm and delightfully whimsy free take on fables and family * Mail on Sunday *
Charming … a prescription for summer amusement that takes immediate effect … There’s so much fine, freewheeling observation and pillowy erudition here, it’s tempting just to sink in * New York Times *
Mason’s prose is full of playful narrative sleights of hand … a treat * Sunday Times *
A charming book about ambition, marriage, and country living * Sunday Times Style *
Virtuosic – Michael Donkor * R4 Front Row *
I was charmed … One of the books of the summer for me, everyone should be taking the book off to their sun loungers – Dr Kate Maltby * R4 Front Row *
Lyrical and joyful – Sarah Jessica Parker
Wonderful - full of joy - and exactly the kind of reading experience we could all do with right now. The book of the summer – Mick Herron, author of SLOW HORSES
Narrated in an arch, long-suffering voice that brings out the comic flavor like salt on caramel. Think of it as a companion to Andrew Sean Greer’s Villa Coco. One comic novel this good feels lucky; two in the same summer feels like cheating … Tremendously endearing. Mason has written a comedy about a man who can’t quite secure his place above ground but senses the wonder lurking just beneath our feet. That and a beloved Italian dog who digs through every pillow, sofa, and floor are all you really need for a book to make the world feel a little lighter, a little warmer – Ron Charles, Substack
A rippling, rambunctious mystery that ricochets between the earthy and the sublime. Told with warmth and wit, Mason’s prose shimmers in this immersive ode to stories, to the land, and its people – Lucy Steeds, Sunday Times bestselling author of THE ARTIST
A charming, funny, exhilarating Vermont adventure – Clare Fuller, author of SWIMMING LESSONS
Superb. I was instantly drawn into Mason’s bright, clever, wry world. There was so much to admire about the story with its terrestrial and subterrestrial layers, the fun Mason has with the preoccupations and contradictions of post-pandemic America, the warmth and love he shows for and between his characters, and the artful way he illuminates the power of community – Dr Gavin Francis, bestselling author of ADVENTURES IN HUMAN BEING and THE UNFRAGILE MIND
Satirical but big-hearted and empathetic … Mason is a lively, fluid writer; here he glides smoothly between present and past, myth and everyday detail, skepticism and credulity. He has fun with his characters without making fun of them … It is simply put, very funny … Reading Country People in public I kept having to muffle my LOLs. That’s never a bad sign. The affection that Mason clearly feels for Miles and his brood is infectious * Boston Globe *
MORE PRAISE FOR DANIEL MASON * : *
A virtuoso * Mail on Sunday *
Has the born storyteller’s gift * Daily Mail *
Genius * Washington Post *
Brave and original * Guardian *
Never fails to surprise and delight * Sunday Times *
Teases out the joy and meaning in the sometimes small lives of his characters * The Times *
Shows us what is possible when a writer lets his hair down * Financial Times *

Daniel Mason is a doctor and author of The Piano Tuner (2002), A Far Country (2007), The Winter Soldier (2018), and A Registry of My Passage Upon the Earth (2020), which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His work has been translated into 28 languages, adapted for opera and the stage, and awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Joyce Carol Oates Prize, the California Book Award, the Northern California Book Award, and a Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. His short stories and essays have been awarded two Pushcart Prizes, a National Magazine Award and an O. Henry Prize. He is an assistant professor in the Stanford University Department of Psychiatry. He currently lives in Palo Alto, CA.

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