---
product_id: 4106063
title: "Torch (Vintage Contemporaries)"
price: "AR$59001"
currency: ARS
in_stock: true
reviews_count: 8
url: https://www.desertcart.com.ar/products/4106063-torch-vintage-contemporaries
store_origin: AR
region: Argentina
---

# Torch (Vintage Contemporaries)

**Price:** AR$59001
**Availability:** ✅ In Stock

## Quick Answers

- **What is this?** Torch (Vintage Contemporaries)
- **How much does it cost?** AR$59001 with free shipping
- **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship
- **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.com.ar](https://www.desertcart.com.ar/products/4106063-torch-vintage-contemporaries)

## Best For

- Customers looking for quality international products

## Why This Product

- Free international shipping included
- Worldwide delivery with tracking
- 15-day hassle-free returns

## Description

Torch (Vintage Contemporaries) [Strayed, Cheryl] on desertcart.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Torch (Vintage Contemporaries)

Review: Debut novel deftly explores shattering impact of unexpected death on family - The paperback version of Cheryl Strayed's complex and moving debut novel, "Torched," contains a revealing conversation with the author. In it, Strayed laments the fact that "in contemporary literary fiction...one's writing must never be sentimental, which often results in writing that lacks sentiment entirely." With extraordinary sensitivity, "Torch" explores the grief, pain and confusion that accompany the unexpected death of a family member. This is a deeply felt novel, one which features characters whose anguish is palpable, whose coping mechanisms are far from perfect and whose personalities are indelibly stamped by loss. Fleeing an abusive marriage, Teresa Rae Woods lands in tiny Midden, Minnesota, impoverished, jobless and saddled with the responsibility of raising her two children. Resolute and resourceful, she slowly makes a life for herself, and in the process, discovers the true love of her life, an admirable carpenter, Bruce. Literally taking the advice she dispenses on her weekly radio show, Teresa words hard, does good and tries to "be incredible." Her exceptionally bright daughter, Claire and her alienated son Joshua have forged a profoundly healthy relationship with Bruce, who is everything to the two of them less being their legal father. Then, at age thirty-eight, Teresa succumbs to cancer, and, predictably, those who love here most are staggered with the near-exquisite pain of loss. The centrifugal forces of grief splinter the family; each of the three survivors staggers under the weight of such an unsettling loss. Through various stages, Bruce, Claire and Joshua come to grips with the death of a loving partner or parent, and their journey towards understanding, acceptance and health is gripping. The greatest strength of "Torch" is Cheryl Strayed's probing how each character summons the strength to endure. Hers is a messy novel, elegantly written and deeply felt. Her characters lose track of family history, turn into themselves and find themselves washed ashore -- shipwrecks of life. There is not a single note of falsehood in Stayed's writing; the terrible strain of mourning results in awful decisions and sundered bonds. Despite the fact that the three survivors share the most cruel of bonds -- the death of the family's anchor -- not one of them can summon the ability to reach out to the other. Their resulting loneliness increases their pain. In part autobiographical, "Torch" took some ten years to write. Its treatment of cancer, post-death dislocation and our capacity to renew ourselves after trauma distinguish this honorable novel. Cheryl Strayed has accomplished her goal; she has crafted a work of great emotional impact, a work of art that elicits both thought and feeling.
Review: Debut novel by the author of "Wild" - I, like many others, first became aware of Cheryl Strayed with her book entitled "Wild" which chronicled her walk along the Pacific Coast Trail. It was selected by Oprah and I thought it was one of her better selections. Ms. Strayed was speaking at a local college earlier this month and I decided to go back and read her freshman effort in preparation for attending her talk. While the book is fiction, it definitely had a familiar theme and was heavily influenced by the loss of the author's mother at a relatively early age. From both books and hearing the author speak, it appears the death of her mother was the most defining even of her life so far and the hole it left is still obvious even in the present day. The story itself revolves around a young(ish) mother who discovers she has a very aggressive cancer and only a short time to live. How her live and death impacts her family and how they each hand their grief is the bones of the story. Her two children are older and their reactions are very different. One child is out on her own attending college and the other is still in school and living at home. Her "husband" who she never legally married is the love of her life and his way of grieving is very different from what might be expected. A star rating is difficult to assign as I had some very conflicted opinions. On one hand, the characters are incredibly well fleshed-out and I feel like I came to know them and what they were going through. The writing is both descriptive and clear which is often times difficult for a writer to pull off. On the other hand, the main theme is so similar to "Wild" that the two books almost merged in my mind. I would also recommend you take a pass if you are feeling depressed or in need of a lift. Hard to read and hard to forget. A well-written book that isn't quite in that top group of stellar books but pretty amazing for a first novel.

## Technical Specifications

| Specification | Value |
|---------------|-------|
| Best Sellers Rank | #694,337 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #6,806 in Women's Domestic Life Fiction #8,949 in Literary Fiction (Books) #12,457 in Contemporary Women Fiction |
| Customer Reviews | 4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars (1,401) |
| Dimensions  | 5.25 x 0.91 x 7.93 inches |
| Edition  | Reprint |
| ISBN-10  | 0345805615 |
| ISBN-13  | 978-0345805614 |
| Item Weight  | 11.2 ounces |
| Language  | English |
| Print length  | 432 pages |
| Publication date  | October 12, 2012 |
| Publisher  | Vintage |

## Images

![Torch (Vintage Contemporaries) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81zfP3qSC6L.jpg)

## Customer Reviews

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Debut novel deftly explores shattering impact of unexpected death on family
*by B***R on July 12, 2007*

The paperback version of Cheryl Strayed's complex and moving debut novel, "Torched," contains a revealing conversation with the author. In it, Strayed laments the fact that "in contemporary literary fiction...one's writing must never be sentimental, which often results in writing that lacks sentiment entirely." With extraordinary sensitivity, "Torch" explores the grief, pain and confusion that accompany the unexpected death of a family member. This is a deeply felt novel, one which features characters whose anguish is palpable, whose coping mechanisms are far from perfect and whose personalities are indelibly stamped by loss. Fleeing an abusive marriage, Teresa Rae Woods lands in tiny Midden, Minnesota, impoverished, jobless and saddled with the responsibility of raising her two children. Resolute and resourceful, she slowly makes a life for herself, and in the process, discovers the true love of her life, an admirable carpenter, Bruce. Literally taking the advice she dispenses on her weekly radio show, Teresa words hard, does good and tries to "be incredible." Her exceptionally bright daughter, Claire and her alienated son Joshua have forged a profoundly healthy relationship with Bruce, who is everything to the two of them less being their legal father. Then, at age thirty-eight, Teresa succumbs to cancer, and, predictably, those who love here most are staggered with the near-exquisite pain of loss. The centrifugal forces of grief splinter the family; each of the three survivors staggers under the weight of such an unsettling loss. Through various stages, Bruce, Claire and Joshua come to grips with the death of a loving partner or parent, and their journey towards understanding, acceptance and health is gripping. The greatest strength of "Torch" is Cheryl Strayed's probing how each character summons the strength to endure. Hers is a messy novel, elegantly written and deeply felt. Her characters lose track of family history, turn into themselves and find themselves washed ashore -- shipwrecks of life. There is not a single note of falsehood in Stayed's writing; the terrible strain of mourning results in awful decisions and sundered bonds. Despite the fact that the three survivors share the most cruel of bonds -- the death of the family's anchor -- not one of them can summon the ability to reach out to the other. Their resulting loneliness increases their pain. In part autobiographical, "Torch" took some ten years to write. Its treatment of cancer, post-death dislocation and our capacity to renew ourselves after trauma distinguish this honorable novel. Cheryl Strayed has accomplished her goal; she has crafted a work of great emotional impact, a work of art that elicits both thought and feeling.

### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Debut novel by the author of "Wild"
*by H***Y on April 19, 2014*

I, like many others, first became aware of Cheryl Strayed with her book entitled "Wild" which chronicled her walk along the Pacific Coast Trail. It was selected by Oprah and I thought it was one of her better selections. Ms. Strayed was speaking at a local college earlier this month and I decided to go back and read her freshman effort in preparation for attending her talk. While the book is fiction, it definitely had a familiar theme and was heavily influenced by the loss of the author's mother at a relatively early age. From both books and hearing the author speak, it appears the death of her mother was the most defining even of her life so far and the hole it left is still obvious even in the present day. The story itself revolves around a young(ish) mother who discovers she has a very aggressive cancer and only a short time to live. How her live and death impacts her family and how they each hand their grief is the bones of the story. Her two children are older and their reactions are very different. One child is out on her own attending college and the other is still in school and living at home. Her "husband" who she never legally married is the love of her life and his way of grieving is very different from what might be expected. A star rating is difficult to assign as I had some very conflicted opinions. On one hand, the characters are incredibly well fleshed-out and I feel like I came to know them and what they were going through. The writing is both descriptive and clear which is often times difficult for a writer to pull off. On the other hand, the main theme is so similar to "Wild" that the two books almost merged in my mind. I would also recommend you take a pass if you are feeling depressed or in need of a lift. Hard to read and hard to forget. A well-written book that isn't quite in that top group of stellar books but pretty amazing for a first novel.

### ⭐⭐⭐ Did you read Wild? If so, then you can probably pass this book up.
*by A***P on January 7, 2013*

Here's the thing ... this book is the twin of Wild -- or, at least it's first few chapters. The death of Cheryl Strayed mother obviously and irrevocably changed her, as I imagine it would many people, I could not possibly fault her for that. But each of her books (all 3 of them) seems to play to that similar theme leaving readers wanting (maybe begging) for something different from Strayed's unique voice. Having read Wild first, I bought this book knowing full good and well what I was getting into. Strayed and her blurb writer make no bones about it -- Torched is an almost-autobiography, more memoir then fiction. But a reader would hope for individuality in the novel, totted as fiction, nevertheless -- something, anything that would somehow set apart. That is where Torch unfortunately fails. Down to the food color/sugar/water drinks Teresa's fictional children consume in Torch that Strayed fondly recalls from her own youth in Wild, a reader is in for more then a few deja vu moments. It was during that time I was left question -- where is the individuality? However, with that said, this book is not without legs of it's own. Beautifully written, emotionally treading, this book teeters always on the fine line of grief and complete loss. Strayed refuses to shy away from uncomfortable moments -- drug abuse, grief-ladden sex, harrowing inner-monologs to name just a few. She does so with eloquence, which makes it all (if possible) that much harder to read. Torch is the sort of book that deserves to stand in a light all its own ... it's just a shame it has to share so much with Wild. Both books are brilliant, just too similar.

## Frequently Bought Together

- Torch (Vintage Contemporaries)
- Brave Enough
- Tiny Beautiful Things (10th Anniversary Edition): Reese's Book Club: Advice from Dear Sugar

---

## Why Shop on Desertcart?

- 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016
- 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories
- 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price
- 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members)
- 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection
- ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews

**Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.com.ar/products/4106063-torch-vintage-contemporaries](https://www.desertcart.com.ar/products/4106063-torch-vintage-contemporaries)

---

*Product available on Desertcart Argentina*
*Store origin: AR*
*Last updated: 2026-05-10*