A riveting tale of grief, love, purpose, and forgiveness, Man Overboard! by Chicago author Kathleen Rooney dives headfirst into life’s biggest existential questions (literally). Told through the perspective of a man so deep in a depressive spiral that he attempts to throw himself overboard on a cruise ship, the novel manages to be both darkly funny and deeply humane.
This entertaining and surprisingly buoyant story follows Patrick “Kick” Kilpatrick, a 30-something former collegiate swimmer who hits rock bottom and decides, in a moment of tragic irony, to aim for ocean bottom instead. Watching a onetime athlete—someone trained to move confidently through water—fall (or jump) into the vast Gulf of Mexico adds an off-color layer of humor to an otherwise heavy premise. Rooney deftly navigates both inner and outer turmoil, leaving readers suspended in the same uneasy waters as Kick, wondering just how long the body and the mind can withstand the most extreme of circumstances.
As dark as the premise sounds, the plot is perfectly juxtaposed with a sarcastic, funny, and deeply flawed narrator. Kick’s voice is sharp enough to cut the tension, yet vulnerable enough to make it sting. The result is an intelligently layered and strikingly real perspective that feels both relatable and grounded. As he spends endless hours treading rough ocean waters, he begins reflecting on how poorly he’s treaded water in his relationships back on land. It’s a clever and surprisingly seamless device, his physical survival mirrored flawlessly with his emotional survival. It allows Rooney to really explore this character’s inner and outer life without it ever feeling heavy-handed.
Rooney uses sea creatures as an ingenious mechanism for forcing her reluctant “hero” to confront his feelings head-on. As an avoidant person, Kick has long relied on distance, distraction, and denial to dodge his problems. But stranded in the open ocean with nothing but saltwater and his own thoughts, there’s nowhere left to swim. The sea creatures become inventive narrative tools, giving him something tangible to engage with. They reflect truths he has fought hard to ignore: his fractured relationship with his mother, his hesitation to commit to a truly wonderful woman, and the undeniable fact that he tried to end his own life. These are heavy, unwieldy topics to front crawl through, yet Rooney manages to keep the story moving with wit and heart.
The novel is firmly set in the present day, peppered with timely cultural references that make the world feel recognizable. Kick is no saint. He’s not even aspiring to be one. He is almost too brutally honest, bordering on unlikable at moments. He is not your typical protagonist. He’s deeply flawed in uncomfortable but undeniably real ways. He didn’t vote in the last election; he’s openly fat-phobic; he prides himself on being a bit of a ladies’ man. He can be judgmental, cynical, and frustratingly self-involved. And yet, that’s precisely what makes him feel so familiar. You know that guy. You’ve rolled your eyes at that guy. You may have even tried to save that guy, only to realize that no one changes until they decide to swim toward shore themselves.
At just under 200 pages, the story moves swiftly but never feels shallow. It’s heartwarming, thought-provoking, and consistently entertaining. It’s a quick and immersive read. Truly the perfect book for the beach, a park hammock, or yes, your next cruise vacation (just make sure to stay onboard).
Man Overboard! is available at bookstores and through the Simon and Schuster website.
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