A darkly luminous new novel from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Hours

Michael Cunningham's luminous novel begins with a vision. It's November 2004. Barrett Meeks, having lost love yet again, is walking through Central Park when he is inspired to look up at the sky; there he sees a pale, translucent light that seems to regard him in a distinctly godlike way. Barrett doesn't believe in visions—or

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"Addiction is epidemic and catastrophic. With more than one in every five people over the age of fourteen addicted, drug abuse has been called the most formidable health problem worldwide. If we are not victims ourselves, we all know someone struggling with the merciless compulsion to alter their experience by changing how their brain functions. Drawing on years of research--as well as personal experience as a recovered addict--researcher and professor...

Inseparable siblings Con and Sofie have loved their mother throughout her struggle with addiction, but when she disappears without warning, the two must decide who they can trust and whether or not they can survive on their own.

A neuroscientist relates his escape from a life of crime and drugs to a career helping to save the lives of addicts, examining the relationship between drugs and pleasure and shedding new light on ideas about race, poverty, and drugs.

Dylan doesn't have a lot of experience with comfort. His room in the falling-down Village Estates can generously be categorized as “squalid,” and he sure as hell isn't getting any love from his mother, who seemed to --no, definitely did-- enjoy the perks that went along with being the parent of a “cancer kid.” His only escape has been in the form of his favorite video game World of Warcraft and the one true friend who makes him feel understood,...

When fifteen-year-old Lance Covington finds the abandoned baby of a drug addict, he is accused of kidnapping, and his mother Barbara looks for help from her old lover, Kent Harlan.

Twelve-year-old Claire struggles to cope while her eighteen-year-old brother, Andy, is treated for drug addiction and her family prepares to sell her beloved horses, but finally accepts that change can be good.

"Addiction starts like a sweet lullaby sung by a trusted loved one. It washes away the pains of the day and wraps you safely in the warmness of the womb where nothing hurts and every dream is possible. Yet soon enough, this warm state of bliss becomes a cold shiver, the ecstasy and dreams become nightmares, yet we can't stop listening to the lullaby for suffering. We crave to hear the siren song as it rips us apart. A powerful list of incredible...