Demon Copperhead

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Call Number: Adult Book / Fiction / General / Kingsolver, Barbara, Fiction / Kingsolver, Barbara
On Shelf At: Traverwood Branch

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The teenage son of an Appalachian single mother who dies when he is eleven uses his good looks, wit, and instincts to survive foster care, child labor, addiction, disastrous loves, and crushing losses.

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COMMUNITY REVIEWS

Demon Copperhead --- hard to read submitted by jldetlefs on May 25, 2023, 7:44pm I am a huge fan of Barbara Kingsolver and she feel she is one of the best authors of our time. This novel received a Pulitzer, and it is well deserved, but I found it a very difficult book to read. It is super depressing. I forced myself to keep reading. Once I looked into David Copperfield - (I also love Dickens and have read this novel) and saw how intricately she wove the characters and plot from that novel, I was very impressed and could appreciate her skill. It is just so sad - the poverty, drugs, abuse, inadequate social systems. We seem to think we have progressed from Dickens' time - but sadly we have not. If you are looking for something easy to read and uplifting - this is not for you.

So sad submitted by amym on June 13, 2023, 5:45pm I have read many books by Barbara Kingsolver and enjoyed them all. She is an excellent writer and story teller. However, this one was a really tough book to get through. The hopelessness of these people was so depressing. I eventually got through it and the end was mildly hopeful. I'm glad I read it, but I'd never read it again.

Excellent submitted by leahkarr on June 13, 2023, 8:55pm This book is sad, but real. It isn’t a fairy tale. But the emotions are so intricately woven together. Very much worth the long wait on the request line. One of the best books I’ve read in 2023

first half is very good . . .then where was the editor(?) submitted by kath on June 18, 2023, 11:13am this is not Barbara Kingsolver's best work. The first half was excellent. But after the main character gets older and becomes an addict, the plot seems to spin out of control along with the main character. there are too many characters and no real end in sight. some moments - but it drags on and on and on.
a generally ok book

Provocative submitted by courtneyhooper on June 24, 2023, 8:33pm I’m still not sure what I think of this book. The first 200 pages feel like a tale of woe with no end in sight. It’s a bit of a burden, even if that’s true to David Copperfield and our narrator provides levity. You can’t help but wonder how much worse things will get for Demon. I found myself avoiding reading it some nights. But even if his life and experiences are depressing, Demon is a narrator who sticks with you, who makes you laugh and brings a wry smile to your face. And Kingsolver has fully realized his voice in a really rare way, especially for a writer who doesn’t share a gender, age, or class with her subject. Do I like the book? I don’t know. But it’s stuck with me and made me think.

Refreshingly different from other Kingsolver novels submitted by mickplu on July 5, 2023, 9:41am I am a fan of Barbara Kingsolver's novels, both fiction and non-fiction. This book felt out of sync with her other work but still captivating. The main character, Damon, nicknamed Demon Copperhead deals with the usual pre-adolescent angst while suffering through poverty, an abusive stepfather, a mother with dependency issues, the foster care system, and finally, his own drug abuse. The novel is a realistic but sad statement of today's problems facing youth in rural and urban areas. Well worth reading.

decent, but clearly out of touch submitted by snapdeus on July 23, 2023, 4:04pm The book is written well. It suffers from the fact that the author is trying to cross too many divides to write as poor male in the 90s. The slang comes off as cringe.

There's also a line where the narrator refers to "deplorables," and nothing is worse when the 2016 election is mentioned in a fictional work.

I'm sorry, but expecting me to believe that this main character would know about Hillary Clinton saying "deplorables" is a bridge too far. The author should've kept her politics out of the main character' s mouth.

If you want to infuse your politics in a story, don't make the narrator a limited narrator of 11 years old and have him say stuff like that. I nearly closed the book and stopped reading.

Also it's poverty porn. But despite all that, it's written decently.

I would not reread it, though.

It's appropriate for grades 9-12th. It is not good eating for the more intellectually minded.

4/10

A True American Tale inspired by David Copperfield submitted by kalind016 on July 26, 2023, 9:05am First, right after I begun this book I listened to the Poured Over podcast with Barbara Kingsolver discussing this book and its origin story. Hearing he perspective on her book and her home region really set me up to enjoy the book even more. I was inspired by the lead character in this book because he just kept going. He made mistakes and was human. He listened to others. Barbara also nails the voice of a teenage boy in my opinion. I really loved this story. I cried but wouldn’t say it was a sad book. I would say it was a beautiful tale about a region in the US that has been looked down upon since the beginning. I loved this book and recommend it often.

Trigger warning: child abuse, drug use submitted by mowjac on July 30, 2023, 6:12pm A skillfully written story, with a compelling character voice. Kingsolver takes modern problems such as foster care, drug addiction, domestic violence, poverty and economic displacement and gives them a compassionate face, all the while tucking in bits of Appalachian history and following the template of Dickens' David Copperfield. So much pain and grief in the story of Demon from birth to age twenty. I didn't want to read it and I could not stop reading it.

Best of Kingsolver’s fiction so far! submitted by 21621031390949 on August 26, 2023, 8:15am The best of Kingsolver’s fiction thus far, IMHO. I wasn’t sure I could stick with such a sad, dark story, but then I connected with the title character and the (long!) book flew by. Redemption is always good, and worth the wait.

Not my favorite writing style submitted by asangtani on July 3, 2024, 6:01am To be fair, Demon Copperhead is completely different in writing style than her usual books, but I still didn’t enjoy this first person narrative about a child living in the foster system.

Best book I have read this year submitted by gryfinder on July 4, 2024, 12:01pm This book was a 10/10. It really made me think about the opioid epidemic in a new way. The first person narration was very compelling, and all the characters were very interesting. I could not wait to start reading it every day and thought about it at work the rest of the day!

Great book submitted by alharman1022 on July 16, 2024, 11:06am Really good read and the story draws you along with so much empathy

Brilliant submitted by Bookeepers on July 19, 2024, 6:59am The story is hard and sad. The writing is absolute brilliance. The author tackles several tricky topics, most notably opioid and drug use. She characters are complex and human. An absolute work of art.

complexity submitted by camelsamba on July 19, 2024, 9:09pm Because this book is a modern retelling of David Copperfield, I listened to an audiobook version of the Dickens' novel while waiting for my copy of Demon Copperhead. As Demon puts it: “Charles Dickens, seriously old guy, dead and a foreigner, but [man] did he get the picture on kids and orphans getting screwed over and nobody [caring]. You’d think he was from round here.”

Both are (quite long) coming-of-age tales that focuses on the moral and spiritual growth of the main character as he moves from birth to maturity. Kingsolver’s book is a bleak portrayal of many contemporary issues, especially addiction (fueled by Big Pharma) and socioeconomic inequality. But it is also hopeful, as it reminds us that no one is beyond redemption. After all, she lives in and loves Appalachia, and wants to portray it in full complexity.

Just masterful submitted by Jean on July 30, 2024, 12:58pm Probably the best novel I read in 2023.

sad but incredible read submitted by kflynn629 on August 4, 2024, 10:51am I had to wait a few months until I was in the right mindset to read this, but it was absolutely fantastic. Barbara Kingsolver does not disappoint.

Amazing submitted by berkleya on August 7, 2024, 6:20pm The voice of this narrator had me hooked from the first paragraph, and I stuck with him through the most harrowing accounts of the transferred he lived through. Without that sharp, funny, soulful voice, I might have found it too painful to read!

Recommend submitted by lucajl on August 17, 2024, 12:05am Great story and had to be in the right mindset to read it. Enjoyed the narrator!

Woof submitted by trender on August 17, 2024, 5:52pm I’m angry at this book and at the awards committees who heralded it (Pulitzer, seriously?). Kingsolver is clearly a skilled writer, sentence-level and story construction are glorious. It’s such a shame that she used this talent to create poverty porn. The book is structurally based on David Copperfield by Dickens -- and this is a total red flag for me, as that book is a big part of the Bildungsroman genre, which cares a lot about the moral growth of a protagonist from childhood to adulthood. When applied to the opioid epidemic, as Kingsolver has done, MORALITY IS NOT HELPFUL. It’s disgusting, creates a spectator feel, and is pretty unethical (for more on the ethics of writing, Elaine Castillo’s How To Read Now is pretty freaking great!). At any rate: if you’re looking to learn more about addiction from authors who actually care about their characters and their readers with honesty and compassion, check out Tommy Orange and Kaveh Akbar. Kingsolver is problematic. Great writer. Unethical writing.

Recommend submitted by Jenni on June 12, 2025, 6:31pm This book is both very sad and yet somewhat hopeful. It made me cry at times and really wish for the characters to overcome all that they are living through. It really talked to the beginning of the opioid crisis and how anyone could fall victim.

Demon copperhead submitted by skiger on June 17, 2025, 12:19pm I enjoyed the first half but after I found myself skimming to get through to the end. Rationally I know this story is realistic in many ways but it just felt very hard to continue rooting for the character as they grew older.

Coming-of-age epic set in late 20th century Appalachia submitted by hotcheetokimbap on June 18, 2025, 4:42pm “Demon Copperhead” won the 2023 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and it took just a few chapters for me to understand why. Demon’s voice and personality are immediately clear and well-defined, and the story feels near-biblical in its vastness. I think it’s a great fictional counterpart to Patrick Radden Keefe’s “Empire of Pain”.

Difficult read, but vivid submitted by Cloverdale on June 29, 2025, 8:11am I appreciate other reviewers’ added context and insights after the fact. As a contemporary retelling of David Copperfield I was hooked into this world and found the parallels strong. Kingsolver is a gifted writer and despite some of the cringe, rooted for Demon.

Compelling, funny, and tragic submitted by mecunningham on July 5, 2025, 7:34am Barbara Kingsolver takes Charles Dickens’s David Copperfield and vividly reinterprets it as a story of Appalachia at the onset of the opioid crisis. Damon Fields, aka Demon Copperhead, is a compelling, funny, and tragic narrator—the boy whom readers desperately hope will take a different path from those around him but who struggles to escape his environment.

The real strength of Kingsolver’s book is the characters who populate Demon’s life. Some are good influences (the Peggotts, Aunt June, Angus, Mr. Armstrong and Ms. Annie), some are bad ones (Fast Forward, Dori), and some encapsulate the struggles of people trapped by systemic failures (Tommy Waddles, the McCobbs). There are a lot of characters, since Kingsolver hewed so closely to Dickens’s work, but each one contributes to Demon’s story.

I binge-read Demon Copperhead in only two days because I was so eager to see that story to its end. Would Demon turn out to be the hero of his own life? Yes, but with help—like all of us, Demon needs assistance and guidance from others to realize his potential. The book concludes on a cautiously optimistic but ambiguous note, Kingsolver leaving us with the hope that Demon can move forward on a healthy and satisfying path as he proceeds onward through life.

Could not finish it submitted by tuttlium on July 8, 2025, 3:18pm I found the narrator extremely compelling, but this book was so long and full of woe that I just could not finish it. It's based on David Copperfield, and to be fair, I tend to have the exact same feeling about all of Dickens' work as well.

Demon Copperhead submitted by gkeller on July 9, 2025, 9:48am The writing was stunning with characters so vivid and real that I often had to pause just to sit with the weight of their stories. It was a tough read emotionally, but I’m so glad I stuck with it—it opened my eyes and broke my heart in the best way.

Astonishing submitted by serdreich on July 10, 2025, 7:05am Propulsive, poignant, heartbreaking, funny, unforgettable - I could go on. I didn't want this book to end. One of my favorites.

Excellent submitted by annwilkinson on July 11, 2025, 8:56am Totally engrossing

Demon Copperhead submitted by strzelec on July 16, 2025, 8:50pm This is one of those books that you can see how skinny the remaining pages are, and you start to ration yourself because you know it will end soon, and you want to prolong that loss. I loved this book. I loved how much I loved Demon, despite his poor choices and unfortunate situation, as well as his arc—so much loss, yet depicted so gently and beautifully in the Appalachias. I have continued to think about these characters days after I finished the book, and that is always a great indication of a superior read. Kingsolver is a national treasure and artist, and we are lucky to be alive at the same time as her.

A Modern Classic of Grit and Resilience submitted by rohansachar on July 31, 2025, 8:13am Barbara Kingsolver delivers a masterfully crafted modern retelling of David Copperfield, set in the heart of Appalachia. This novel is a powerful, gut-wrenching, and ultimately hopeful journey through the opioid crisis, poverty, and the failures of the foster care system, told with an unforgettable and resilient voice.

Unflinching, Heartbreaking, and Essential submitted by arpitashah on July 31, 2025, 8:13am With searing honesty and deep empathy, Kingsolver's Demon Copperhead is an essential read that gives voice to the rural poor often overlooked by society. The story is a raw and vivid exploration of trauma and survival, demonstrating the incredible strength of the human spirit in the face of relentless adversity.

I loved Demon's clear voice submitted by valeriemates on August 23, 2025, 6:35pm I loved Demon's clear voice as he described growing up poor and orphaned in Appalachia. I learned a lot about societal conditions that affect large numbers of poor people throughout the country and especially in Appalachia. Kingsolver has clearly done her research about drug addiction, problems in the foster care system, and other problems that Demon grew up with. Kingsolver herself grew up in Appalachia and wrote this book partly to give the rest of the world a more accurate view of what life is like in Appalachia, since it is usually portrayed very inaccurately.

Anyway, in addition to being educational, this book was a real page-turner. I highly recommend it!

Before I read it, I wondered if I needed to read "David Copperfield" to understand this book. It turns out that you do not -- it's fine to read this book on its own.