100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Thanks for supporting our NZ-owned independent bookstore ❤️ Overnight NZ Delivery 🚀

How to Dodge a Cannonball

By Dennard Dayle
0.0 (0 reviews)
3.36 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating. ( 585 ratings, 170 reviews)
Brief Description
How to Dodge a Cannonball is funnier than the Civil War should ever be. It follows Anders, a teenage idealist who enlists and reenlists to shape the American future—as soon as he figures out what that is, who it includes, and why everyone wants him to... Read More
Format: Hardback
$7000

International Supplier

This title is in-stock with overseas suppliers. While it is not available locally, we fly books in weekly from the US and UK to our Auckland warehouse for immediate dispatch.

AVAILABLE WITH SUPPLIER Ships from our Auckland warehouse within 2-3 weeks

Found a better price? Request a price match

A cutting, revealing caricature of the American Civil War, told through the eyes of a white teenager who joins an all-Black regiment of soldiers, for fans of Colson Whitehead and James McBride.

How to Dodge a Cannonballis a razor-sharp satire that dives into the heart of the Civil War, hilariously questioning the essence of the fight, not just for territory, but for the soul of America.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

How to Dodge a Cannonball is funnier than the Civil War should ever be. It follows Anders, a teenage idealist who enlists and reenlists to shape the American future—as soon as he figures out what that is, who it includes, and why everyone wants him to die for it. Escaping his violently insane mother is a bonus.

Anders finds honour as a proud Union flag twirler—until he's captured. Then he tries life as a diehard Confederate—until fate asks him to die hard for the Confederacy at Gettysburg. Barely alive, Anders limps into a Black Union regiment in a stolen uniform. While visibly white, he claims to be an octoroon, and they claim to believe him. Only then does his life get truly strange.

His new brothers are even stranger, including a science-fiction playwright, a Haitian double agent, and a former slave feuding with God. Despite his best efforts, Anders starts seeing the war through their eyes, sparking ill-timed questions about who gets to be American or exploit the theatre of war. Dennard Dayle's satire spares no one as doomed charges, draft riots, gleeful arms dealers, and native suppression campaigns test everyone's definition of loyalty.

Uproariously funny and revelatory, How to Dodge a Cannonball asks if America is worth fighting for. And then answers loudly. Read it while it's still legal.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781250345677

Publisher: Henry Holt & Company Inc

Format: Hardback

Date Published: 21 July 2025

Country: United States

Imprint: Henry Holt & Company Inc

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Width: 154.0mm

Height: 233.0mm

Weight: 250g

Pages: 336

Collections

Dennard Dayle Fiction General Fiction Historical Fiction Humour

About the Author

Dennard Dayle is a Jamaican American author who lives in Brooklyn, New York. He is a graduate of Princeton University and received his MFA from Columbia University. His short fiction has appeared in the New Yorker, Clarkesworld, Matchbook, the Hard Times, and McSweeney's Internet Tendency. His first book was the short story collection Everything Abridged. Before taking up fiction and mischief as a full-time job, he was an advertising copywriter who dangerously flirted with stand-up comedy. He teaches as an adjunct at Columbia and recently made the rash decision to take up skateboarding.

Also by Dennard Dayle

View all
  • Everything Abridged
    Framed as a reference work of humorous “entries” that offer trenchant social commentary, Everything Abridged presages a dark vision of the near future but tells jokes in the face of it: An intelligence agency operative uncovers a conspiracy to generate conspiracies and realizes his participation in the scheme. A Caribbean monarch meets four decades of American presidents and adjusts his...
    By Dennard Dayle
    Paperback
    $2999
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Everything Abridged: Stories
    Framed as a reference work of humorous "entries" that offer trenchant social commentary, Everything Abridged presages a dark vision of the near future but tells jokes in the face of it. An intelligence agency operative uncovers a conspiracy to generate conspiracies and realises his participation in the scheme. A Caribbean monarch meets four decades of American presidents and adjusts his...
    By Dennard Dayle
    Hardback
    Sold Out

More from Historical Fiction

View all
  • The Parisian Chapter
    From the New York Times bestselling author of The Paris Library and The Librarians of Rue de Picardie comes a charming and cinematic novel following a young woman from Montana who lands a job in the American Library in Paris, where she discovers the power of storytelling and writes her own Parisian chapter.'Stirring and rich with detail' New York Times...
    By Janet Skeslien Charles
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    Inferno
    AD 60. Nero Claudius Caesar is Emperor. He is feared for his temper. He is known to be intoxicated by the power he wields. And why not? The Roman Empire stretches from the wilds of Britain to the deserts of Parthia. Nero is god of all he surveys. Yet dangerous traitors lie close at hand. Generals commanding legions. Senators whispering...
    By Conn Iggulden
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Circle of Days
    From the master of epic fiction comes the deeply human story of one of the world's greatest mysteries: the building of Stonehenge. A FLINT MINER WITH A GIFT Seft, a talented flint miner, walks the Great Plain in the high summer heat, to witness the rituals that signal the start of a new year. He is there to trade his...
    By Ken Follett
    Hardback
    $4499
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Soldier's Daughter
    The heart-stopping new blockbuster by the bestselling author of The Fallen Woman. Violet Nash has grown up in the shadows of her father Charlie's shattered dreams. It's been years since he walked away from the battlefields of France, a WWI hero but his heart in tatters, only to see it broken all over again in the worst way possible. In...
    By Fiona McIntosh
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Lost Bookshop
    Evie Woods' stunning new novel The Story Collector is available now. The Echo of Old Books meets The Lost Apothecary in this evocative and charming novel full of mystery and secrets. ‘The thing about books,’ she said ‘is that they help you to imagine a life bigger and better than you could ever dream of.’ On a quiet street in...
    By Evie Woods
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $2500
    (2)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • All the Diamonds in Paris
    Kristin Harmel is firmly in the top echelon of WW2 storytellers - HEATHER MORRIS A master storyteller - SANTA MONTEFIORE The best at sweeping historical drama - KELLY HARMS A dazzling diamond of a novel - HAZEL GAYNOR * Paris, 1942: Anabel Martinet is a jewel thief, descended from a family that has spent centuries stealing from the unkind and...
    By Kristin Harmel
    Paperback
    $2999
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Listeners
    ‘By turns a beautiful love story, a fascinating glimpse into the horrors of history and a haunting tale of loyalty and courage. A marvel of storytelling’ CHRIS WHITAKER, bestselling author of All the Colours of the Dark The Avallon Hotel offers unrivalled luxury in the wild Appalachian Mountains, its curative sweetwater washing away the troubles of high society. June 'Hoss'...
    By Maggie Stiefvater
    Paperback
    $3600
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Song of Achilles
    The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller is a brilliantly crafted retelling of the ancient Greek epic of Achilles and Patroclus, transforming the classical myth into a profoundly moving love story. Set against the richly depicted backdrop of Greece during the heroically tumultuous age, the narrative follows Patroclus, an awkward and exiled young prince, who is taken to the court...
    By Madeline Miller
    Paperback
    $2100
    Elsewhere:
    $3999
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Mythos
    Mythos by Stephen Fry is a compelling retelling of the classic Greek myths, reimagined with a wit and elegance that only Fry can deliver. This volume transports the reader to a world where mortals intertwine with the divine, and the timeless tales unfold in a spellbinding narrative that captures the imagination. From the cosmogony—the birth of the cosmos—to the exploits...
    By Stephen Fry
    Paperback
    $2200
    Elsewhere:
    $3000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Four Winds
    Kristin Hannah is a classic storyteller and The Four Winds sees her at the top of her game - Matt Haig Powerful and compelling - Delia Owens, number one international bestselling author of Where the Crawdads Sing A story of love, family, unbreakable bonds, bravery and hope. I loved this book so much! - Christy Lefteri, bestselling author of The...
    By Kristin Hannah
    Paperback
    $2000
    Elsewhere:
    $2499
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Lost Apothecary
    Hidden in the depths of eighteenth-century London, a secret apothecary shop caters to an unusual kind of clientele. Women across the city whisper of a mysterious figure named Nella who sells well-disguised poisons to use against the oppressive men in their lives. But the apothecary's fate is jeopardised when her newest patron, a precocious twelve-year-old, makes a fatal mistake, sparking...
    By Sarah Penner
    Paperback
    $2500
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Limestone Road
    From the deserts of Egypt to the rolling hills of South Australia, The Limestone Road is a captivating novel about one soldier's courageous journey home. In the summer of 1944, returning soldiers Canning Christie and his father Michael arrive in South Australia from the desert sands of North Africa. Canning carries the trauma of war and a fractured memory of...
    By Nicole Alexander
    Paperback
    $3400
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

The Latest at Book Hero

View all