Daybreak Birdsong Always Wakes Him: The Lives of Billy the Kid

Description:

A lyrical and unflinching reimagining of Billy the Kid, Daybreak Birdsong Always Wakes Him traces his journey from a poverty-stricken childhood to his infamous life as an outlaw. Through shifting perspectives and his own keen observations, the novel explores myth, violence, and the fleeting moments of grace in a life on the run.

Review Quotes:

"I'm staggered by the depths of Ryder's Daybreak Birdsong Always Wakes Him, as though watching a galaxy form from a distance, but also close enough to be rubbed raw. . . . It's a monumental book that astonished me by its language, vision, and complexity. It's a monumental book."
--Joanna Ruocco, author of Dan

"In Daybreak [Birdsong Always Wakes Him], Ryder's uncompromising pursuit of reality forces certain concessions. She presents the tapestry of voices Billy encounters much as he encounters them, without much by way of literary stylisation, without making an event of every sentence.
--Luke Dunne is a writer from London. His poetry has appeared or will appear in The New Republic, The Kenyon Review, The London Magazine and berlin lit.