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The Delivery

A Novel
3.36 goodreads logo

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( 412 ratings, 88 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
In an unnamed city rife with indifference, an undocumented refugee becomes a Delivery Boy, navigating the perils of a new and invisible working class. As he pedals through traffic fulfilling orders for the city’s affluent, he wrestles with language barriers, the pressures of his job, and the hope of winning over N., the aloof dispatcher who aids him. The Delivery is a sharp fable exploring language, commerce, and the immigrant experience in contemporary society, questioning who controls stories and fates alike.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$3499
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers who appreciate literary fiction that blends social commentary with experimental narrative forms. Those interested in immigrant experiences, language, and modern urban life will find this a resonant and thought-provoking read.

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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

Countries go wrong sometimes, and sometimes the luckier citizens of those countries have a chance to escape and seek refuge in another country—a country that might itself be in the process of going wrong.

In the bustling indifference of an unnamed city, one such citizen finds himself trapped working for a company that makes its money dispatching an army of undocumented refugees to bring the well-off men and women of this confounding metropolis their dinners. Whatever he might have been at home, this citizen is now a Delivery Boy: a member of a new and invisible working class, pedalling his power-assist bike through traffic, hoping for a decent tip and a five-star rating.

He is decidedly a Delivery Boy; sometimes he even feels like a Delivery Baby; certainly he's not yet a Delivery Man, though he'll have to man up if he wants to impress N., the aloof dispatcher who sends him his orders and helps him with his English.

Can our hero avoid the wrath of his Supervisor, get the girl, and escape his indentured servitude? Can someone in his predicament ever have a happy ending? Who gets to decide? And who's telling this story, anyway?

Harrowing and hilarious, The Delivery is a fable for and about our times: an exploration of the ways language and commerce unite and isolate every one of us, native and immigrant both.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

The New York Times Book Review praises it as "often exquisite," highlighting the profound exploration of language and the plight of the protagonist. The Los Angeles Review of Books notes its "glaringly innovative" structure, comparing its intensity to an odyssey, while the Washington Independent Review of Books describes it as "enthralling" and "transportive." Mendelsund's novel is recognised for its artistic form and compelling narrative voice.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781250829610

Publisher: St Martin's Press

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 08 February 2022

Country: United States

Imprint: Picador USA

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 21.0mm

Width: 138.0mm

Height: 218.0mm

Weight: 269g

Pages: 304

About the Author

Peter Mendelsund is a novelist, a graphic designer, and the creative director of The Atlantic. He is the author of the novel Same Same as well as several books about literature and the visual imagination.

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