The Swallowed Man

The novel serves as a "lost diary" of Geppetto, the woodcarver who created Pinocchio. After his wooden son runs away, Geppetto sets out to find him, only to be swallowed by a massive shark. Isolated within the cavernous, rotting ribs of the creature for two years, Geppetto uses the detritus of swallowed ships—ink, paper, and odd relics—to record his memories, his regrets, and his descent into near-madness. It is a story of artistic creation, the weight of fatherhood, and the strange, lonely beauty found in the belly of a beast.