Vision Quest (novel)

Vision Quest is a young adult novel by Terry Davis, published in 1979.[1] In first-person, present-tense narrative, it tells the story of a few months in the life of Louden Swain, a high school wrestler in Spokane, Washington who is cutting weight and working toward the state championships. The book takes its title from the vision quest ritual of some Native American tribes, of going into the wilderness alone to 'discover who you are and who your people are and how you fit into the circle of birth and growth and death and rebirth.'[2] John Irving called it "the truest novel about growing up since The Catcher in the Rye."[3]

Vision Quest
First edition
AuthorTerry Davis
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
GenreYoung Adult
PublisherDelacorte Books
Publication date
1979
Media typePrint (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages256 pp
ISBN978-0-385-73274-1
OCLC55960931
Followed byIf Rock & Roll Were a Machine 

Vision Quest was made into a 1985 film of the same title, starring Matthew Modine and Linda Fiorentino, with a cameo appearance from Madonna as a night-club singer.

The book has been published in many different editions, including re-releases in May 2002 (with a foreword by Chris Crutcher) and May 2005.

Critical reception

Kirkus Reviews called Vision Quest "a sunny and deft novel for lovers of wrestling, wit, and hang-loose talent."[4]

Awards and nominations
  • Vision Quest - ALA Best Books for Young Adults, 1980
  • Vision Quest - New York Public Library Best Books for the Teen Age, 1980
  • Vision Quest - ALA Best Books for Young Adults In the Last Quarter Century, 1995

References
  1. "A high-school sports hero, a mythic encounter, a vision of bleakness and Harlem preachers". The Washington Post.
  2. Davis, Terry. Vision Quest, Delacourte: 2005, ISBN 978-0-385-73274-1. p. 62
  3. Davis, Terry Vision Quest, Delacourte: 2005, ISBN 978-0-385-73274-1. Quoted on front cover.
  4. "Book Reviews, Sites, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction". Kirkus Reviews.
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