Shawn Vestal

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  • “Fresh, vital and wild”

    Megan Abbott, author of The Fever and Dare Me


  • “An electrifying debut novel”

    Jess Walter, author of Beautiful Ruins


  • “A speeding stunt bike of a novel, propulsive and daring.”

    Sharma Shields, author of The Sasquatch Hunter’s Almanac



A riveting story
of desire and escape, Daredevils boasts memorable set pieces and a rich cast of secondary characters. There’s Dean’s other wife, Ruth, who as a child in the 1950s was separated from her parents during the notorious Short Creek raid, when federal agents descended on a Mormon fundamentalist community. There’s Jason’s best friend, Boyd, part Native American and caught up in the activist spirit of the time, who comes along for the ride, with disastrous results. And Vestal’s ultimate creation is a superbly sleazy chatterbox—a man who might or might not be Evel Knievel himself—who works his charms on Loretta at a casino in Elko, Nevada…read more

Shawn Vestal made his literary debut with Godforsaken Idaho, a story collection that won the 2014 PEN Robert W. Bingham Prize and was shortlisted for the Saroyan Prize. A graduate of the Eastern Washington University MFA program, his stories have appeared in Tin House, Ecotone, McSweeney’s, The Southern Review and other journals. He writes a column for The Spokesman-Review in Spokane, Washington, where he lives with his wife and son.

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OTHER WORKS

FICTION


Godforsaken Idaho
“A provocative and revelatory debut, filled with stories about losing faith and trying (often in vain) to find purpose, mainly set amid the sparsely populated Mormon country of the rugged Northwest.” –Kirkus Reviews
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NON FICTION



A.K.A. Charles Abbott
An essay sorting through the mazes of fact and memory surrounding the author's father and his criminal history. Read More

Interviews


Vestal "stunned" by literary prize
A story from The Spokesman-Review, following the announcement of the PEN/Bingham prize.

"Shawn Vestal's Memory Castles Made of Lego"
An interview with Melody Nixon at The Common.

The Vestal Version of Idaho
An interview in Interview magazine, with Royal Young.

"Vestal's Own Private Idaho"
An interview with Jim Kershner at The Spokesman-Review. Read More

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