Every Exit Brings You Home

Naeem Murr, a dual US and UK citizen, is the author of four novels: The Boy, a New York Times Notable Book; The Genius of the Sea; The Perfect Man, which was awarded The Commonwealth Writers' Prize for the Best Book of Europe and South Asia, and was longlisted for the Booker Prize; and Every Exit Brings You Home. A former Stegner Fellow at Stanford, among his awards are a Pushcart Prize, a Lannan Residency Fellowship, a PEN Beyond Margins Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He lives in Chicago and teaches at Northwestern University.

‘For too long, Naeem Murr’s name has been whispered among judging panels instead of toasted in book clubs. Since his 1998 debut, “The Boy,” he has received the kind of critical accolades that confer honor but not sales. His latest novel, with the poetic if enigmatic title ‘Every Exit Brings You Home,’ deserves to awaken a much larger audience. This is one of those rare stories that feels at once universal and impossibly strange, rooted in the ordinary challenges of the American Dream but lashed to horrors unfolding on the other side of the planet.’ Washington Post 'Murr’s richly textured narrative offers many such surprisingly tender moments. They are essential components of a novel that is determinedly hopeful without blinking at the possibility of cruelty and betrayal in intimate relations, let alone their near certainty in the endless cycle of killing and revenge in Gaza. A beautiful final image embodies the mingled realities of love and pain that echo through the book. Naeem Murr’s expansive talent animates every page of Every Exit Brings You Home.' Boston Globe ‘Timely and urgent, EveryExit Brings You Home explores Jack’s hopes, sorrows, and regrets—and, by proxy, those of immigrants everywhere.’ Harper’s Bazaar 'A heartbreaking and thrillingly suspenseful story about tragic histories and new beginnings.' Jenny Offill, author of Weather 'This is the best novel I’ve read in years, with everything a reader could want: complex characters, political wisdom, comedy, tragedy, soul. Naeem Murr has a particular gift for conveying the intimacies between characters, but his genius is for drawing his readers into the world of these intimacies and lives so vividly they won’t want to leave it.' Christian Wiman, author of My Bright Abyss: Meditation of a Modern Believer 'This poignant, at times hilarious, at times tragic, always compelling novel knocked me out. It’s both intimate and expansive, digging deep into the emotional intricacies of love and into the devastation of war and the longing for family and home. As soon as I finished it, I bought the author’s other books, so loathe was I to leave his assured, even brilliant, company.' Ayelet Waldman, author of Love and Other Impossible Pursuits 'Urgent, unflinching, and impossible to ignore, Every Exit Brings You Home will linger in the imagination long after the last page.' Diana Abu-Jaber, author of Crescent and Fencing with the King 'This fiercely moving novel is a gorgeous account of the parallel tracks we all contain: the one that takes us into the past (and brings the past constantly forward) and the other that moves us through the world we are always in the process of creating. I loved it.' Ann Packer, author of The Dive from Clausen’s Pier and The Children’s Crusade ‘Encapsulates the pain of longing, and the struggle of letting life in when your heart feels like it’s turned to stone.’ Chicago Review of Books