Just when seventeen-year-old Cullen Witter thinks he understands
everything about his small and painfully dull Arkansas town, it
all disappears. . . .
In the summer before Cullen's senior year, a nominally-depressed
birdwatcher named John Barling thinks he spots a species of
woodpecker thought to be extinct since the 1940s in Lily,
Arkansas. His rediscovery of the so-called Lazarus Woodpecker
sparks a flurry of press and woodpecker-mania. Soon all the kids
are getting woodpecker haircuts and everyone's eating "Lazarus
burgers." But as absurd as the town's carnival atmosphere has
become, nothing is more startling than the realization that
Cullen’s sensitive, gifted fifteen-year-old brother Gabriel has
suddenly and inexplicably disappeared.
While Cullen navigates his way through a summer of finding and
losing love, holding his fragile family together, and muddling
his way into adulthood, a young missionary in Africa, who has
lost his faith, is searching for any semblance of meaning
wherever he can find it. As distant as the two stories seem at
the start, they are thoughtfully woven ever closer together and
through masterful plotting, brought face to face in a surprising
and harrowing climax.
Complex but truly extraordinary, tinged with melancholy and
regret, comedy and absurdity, this novel finds wonder in the
ordinary and emerges as ultimately hopeful. It's about a lot more
than what Cullen calls, “that damn bird.” It’s about the dream of
second chances.
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John Corey Whaley's Where Things Come Back Playlist
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John Corey Whaley Where Things Come Back is based on the true
story of the Lazarus Woodpecker: The supposed reappearance of the
ivory-billed woodpecker is a true story that inspired expression
in a variety of media. Author John Corey Whaley was inspired to
write the book after he heard Sufjan Steven’s "The Lord God Bird"
on NPR. Here he provides a custom playlist--one he listened to
while writing the book--and some background on each song choice,
including the song that inspired the book. Listen to his
playlist.
"We Won't Need Legs to Stand" by Sufjan Stevens
Aside from the obvious allusions to angels and the afterlife,
this song has an eerie quality to it that speaks perfectly to the
early parts of the story.
"The Lord God Bird" by Sufjan Stevens
This is the song that started it all…written about the
Ivory-Billed Woodpecker in Arkansas with the combination of a
banjo and melodic singing that one may very well hear in a town
like Lily.
"Staring At the Sun" by TV On the Radio There is a particular
desperation in this, one of my favorite songs, that seems to fit
the mother character perfectly. The story wouldn’t be the same
without one moment when this song is quoted.
"Hope There's Someone" by Antony And The Johnsons
The lyrics in this song speak clearly for themselves-the hope
that there is something else after this life and that second
chances do exist… that maybe things do come back.
"Postcards From Italy" by Beirut
This song has a sort of whimsical playfulness that I think
represents the more fantastical elements of Cullen Witter’s
story, especially in those moments where he seems to be
completely in a world of his own.
"Trying My Best to Love You" by Jenny Lewis
I think this song is the perfect theme to Cullen’s adventures in
teenage love, something that doesn’t come so easy to him.
"The Leaving Song" by Chris Garneau
I can’t ever listen to this song without thinking about Cullen
Witter searching for his missing little brother. The line "You
are all I know" sums it up beautifully.
"All the Right Reasons" by The Jayhawks
Another whimsical, yet powerful theme to Cullen’s search for
meaning in his own existence and the hope of a better life.
"Welcome Home, Son" by Radical Face
Though the characters are conflicted with the "home" they’ve been
born into, this song fits well into the overall theme of coming
to terms with that struggle.
"Adventures In Solitude" by The New Pornographers
With the possible return of an extinct woodpecker in his town
and the disappearance of a his teenage brother, this song and its
title perfectly match up with Cullen Witter’s own adventures in
solitude throughout the story.
"I See a Darkness" by Bonnie "Prince" Billy
I love most of Bonnie "Prince" Billy’s eerie, melodic songs, but
this one in particular became the unofficial theme song for
Gabriel, whose innocence and wise-beyond-his-years persona are
threatened when he vanishes out of the lives of his loving family
and friends.
"Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
I think this fun yet sincere song says so much not just about the
story’s setting, but also the recurring struggle of all of the
characters to find a place they belong and reconcile their
inabilities to find the things and people without which they
never can feel at home.
"Flume" by Bon Iver
When I first heard this song, a son’s ode to his mother and the
love they share, I instantly thought of Cullen and Gabriel’s
mother and aunt, two women who must struggle with the possibility
of a life without their sons.
