Boomerang was published by Houghton Mifflin in 1989. The book was Hannah’s most nakedly autobiographical work — a fragmented, non-linear account of his own life during the years of heaviest drinking: the failed marriages, the academic career held together by charisma and talent, the near-fatal collapse. The “boomerang” of the title is the life that keeps coming back to hit you no matter how far you try to throw it away.
The book marked a turning point. Hannah would eventually achieve sobriety, and Boomerang was the document of the crisis that made recovery necessary.
Collecting Boomerang
First edition (Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1989): Boards with dust jacket.
Market values:
- Fine in dust jacket: $25–$60
- Very good: $10–$25
Projected values (2026–2036): Modest appreciation.
The Experimental Novel
Boomerang (1989) is Hannah’s most formally experimental work — a novel constructed from fragments, anecdotes, memories, and hallucinatory set pieces that circle around themes of violence, sex, the Civil War, and Mississippi without settling into conventional narrative. The title suggests the book’s method: ideas and images thrown out and returning, transformed, from unexpected directions.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who influenced Barry Hannah? Faulkner is the obvious ancestor, but Hannah also cited Flannery O’Connor, Eudora Welty, Jimi Hendrix (for rhythm and improvisation), and the Beats (for their rejection of literary propriety). His compressed style also shows the influence of Hemingway, though Hannah’s emotional register is far more volatile.