Aransas — Stephen Harrigan

“Beneath the genial surface” of this “resonant” first novel about a dolphin trainer who struggles with the ethics of his job “allusive undercurrents tug” (The New York Times Book Review).
 
A critically acclaimed debut novel first published in 1980, Aransas recounts a young man's homecoming to his small Gulf Coast fishing town of Port Aransas. As Jeff Downing begins work training two porpoises to become part of a tourist attraction, he comes to love them as well as the woman who wants to release the pair to the wild.
 
“The sureness and poise of this first novel are as remarkable as the sharpness, oddity, and clarity of its feelings.” ―Newsweek
 
“Harrigan's eye for locale and its effect is superb.” -- Washington Post Book World
 
“Harrigan . . . Has a sharp eye for observing man, beast, seashore, and town in a vividly drawn setting.” ―Publishers Weekly
 
“An ardent and elegant book, beautiful in its language, mature in its perceptions, noble in its sentiments.” ―San Francisco Chronicle
 
“Sensitive [and] enormously evocative first . . . Spare but warm prose . . . Immerses us in atmosphere as insistently as it does the plot . . . Harrigan is a splendid novelist.” -- Houston Post
 
“Aransas has several surprises, including dramatic suspense, counterculture revisionism, and what must be considered dolphin revisionism. More, Harrigan has written an acute American regional novel.” -- The Village Voice