PLAY, REWIND

A Lovely tale about a video store clerk in the dying days of VHS who’s stuck caring for a mother with dementia—and longing for a life that seems forever out of reach.

"To put it plainly, Play, Rewind is a tour de force, the heartbreaking story of a young video clerk's relationship to his aging mother sick with dementia, and a love letter to that young man's hometown, Queens, New York; Vurro's capacity for language, whether filtering day-to-day life through the perspective of a rabid film buff, to the blossoming of a young awkward love affair, is authentic, lived, poetic and propulsive. I could not put it down."
— Scott Cheshire, author of High as the Horses' Bridles

“Occasionally, if you’re lucky, you come across a novel that breaks the lock on the safe of your heart and makes you feel things you’d forgotten you could feel. Occasionally, a novel’s sorrow is handled with such comic grace that it actually makes you laugh out loud. Occasionally, you read sentences so electric that you wonder if the writer is using their own unique alphabet. But when, if ever, do you find a novel that manages all three? John Vurro’s Play, Rewind is just such a novel. I loved it so much that after I read it, I wanted to rewind back to the beginning and read it again. Vurro’s is a bold and brilliant new literary voice. This beautiful novel moved me deeply.”
— Alena Graedon, author of The Word Exchange

“John Vurro’s Play, Rewind balances tenderness and wit, mystery and family drama. A wry yet gentle movie buff sifts through his mother’s flagging memory to learn the secrets of their combined past. Brimming with longing and film references, and complete with a gloriously unhinged love interest, when you reach the last page, you’ll want to rewind it and play it again.”
— Katherine Dykstra, author of What Happened to Paula

“An ode to the movies and the last days of videotape, Play, Rewind is a sharp, hilarious, and brilliant debut. John Vurro is an auteur, voyeur, and raconteur who can swell, crush, and rewind your heart. It will make you want to dust off your VCR and watch old home movies. Or make them.”

-Alex Gilvarry, National Book Foundation 5 under 35, and author of Eastman Was Here