Inhabited World（ISBN=） 英文原版

　　A voyeuristic ghost examines his life and his reasons for
ending it in this intriguing but slight psychological drama from
Long (The Falling Boy). Evan Malloy has haunted his
Seattle-area home since his suicide in 1992, but it isn’t until the
summer of 2002, when single 3　　0-something Maureen Keniston moves
in, that Evan discovers the purpose of his restless afterlife. As
Maureen tries to end a two-year affair with a married doctor, Evan
reflects on his own infidelities and failed marriage. Despite the
one-sided relationship between the haunter and haunted—Evan remains
undetectable to the world of the living—Long manages to build
suspense as Evan recounts the events that took him from happily
married man to suicidal failure. Evan’s and Maureen’s hunt for the
strength and wisdom to escape their “conditions” anchors this ghost
story in the simple tale of two lost souls figuring out what they
need from this world. Nevertheless, Long’s languid prose gives a
fairy tale quality to his protagonists’ domestic crises and
emphasizes their shared babe-in-the-woods innocence, making them
difficult to identify with and easy to forget about. (Publishers
Weekly )David Long’s fictional landscape often takes place
inside the mind. In this case, he develops a ghost-as-narrator who,
through flashbacks, pieces together his life. The Inhabited
World is really two stories, however: Evan’s transition from a
happily married man to his crippling depression, and Maureen’s
attempt to leave an abusive affair. These plots may sound
depressing, but critics agree that Long creates a sense of calm,
centering, and moodiness that recalls his first novel, The
Falling Boy. Despite all odds, parts of the writing even
approach joy as Evan recalls his daily life. A few problems held
reviewers back. The interior narrative doesn’t engage immediately
and, in fact, became tiresome to a few. Others did not fully
understand Evan’s suicide. But in the end, The Inhabited
World is worth reading for its musings on life, death, and
faith in redemption. (Booksmark Magazine )

　　Part psychological drama, part mystery, part modern ghost
story, The Inhabited World is a deeply affecting novel of love,
loss, and longing. Evan Molloy has been dead for nearly ten years
when the mysterious, fragile Maureen moves into the bungalow near
Puget Sound where he once lived. Caught between this world and the
next, Evan cannot remember the events that led to his death, but in
Maureens presence he begins to recall his life more clearly. As
Maureen tries valiantly to restart her life after a recently ended
love affair, she unknowingly offers her otherworldly housemate a
sort of redemption he never could have predicted.

　　DAVID LONG is the author of Blue Spruce, The Falling Boy, and
The Daughters of Simon Lamoreaux. His fiction has appeared in The
New Yorker, GQ, Story, and numerous other publications, and has
earned him an O. Henry Award, a Pushcart Prize, a Rosenthal Prize
from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, and many other
honors.