David Abrams's Blog, page 114

Soup and Salad: Merritt Tierce's Husband Has Read Her Novel, Encountering Tim O'Brien, Un-Slumping Sophomore Novels, Will We See Thomas Pynchon?, High Desert Journal's Subscriber Campaign, The Smell of Old Books, Literary Halloween Costumes, 10 Worst Openi

On today's menu:

1.  At the Powell's blog , Merritt Tierce, whose debut novel Love Me Back is about a waitress addicted to sex and cocaine, talks about how she's been confronted with an unusual question:

     "Has your husband read it?"
     So far I've stifled the following responses:
     "No, has your husband read it?"
     "No, because he's not allowed to read. He has too much to do around the house."
     "Yes,...

Soup and Salad: Merritt Tierce's Husband Has Read Her Novel, Encountering Tim O'Brien, Un-Slumping Sophomore Novels, Will We See Thomas Pynchon?, High Desert Journal's Subscriber Campaign, The Smell of Old Books, Literary Halloween Costumes, 10 Worst Openi

On today's menu:

1.  At the Powell's blog , Merritt Tierce, whose debut novel Love Me Back is about a waitress addicted to sex and cocaine, talks about how she's been confronted with an unusual question:

     "Has your husband read it?"
     So far I've stifled the following responses:
     "No, has your husband read it?"
     "No, because he's not allowed to read. He has too much to do around the house."
     "Yes,...

Soup and Salad: Merritt Tierce's Husband Has Read Her Novel, Encountering Tim O'Brien, Un-Slumping Sophomore Novels, Will We See Thomas Pynchon?, High Desert Journal's Subscriber Campaign, The Smell of Old Books, Literary Halloween Costumes, 10 Worst Openi

On today's menu:

1.  At the Powell's blog , Merritt Tierce, whose debut novel Love Me Back is about a waitress addicted to sex and cocaine, talks about how she's been confronted with an unusual question:

     "Has your husband read it?"
     So far I've stifled the following responses:
     "No, has your husband read it?"
     "No, because he's not allowed to read. He has too much to do around the house."
     "Yes,...

Soup and Salad: Merritt Tierce's Husband Has Read Her Novel, Encountering Tim O'Brien, Un-Slumping Sophomore Novels, Will We See Thomas Pynchon?, High Desert Journal's Subscriber Campaign, The Smell of Old Books, Literary Halloween Costumes, 10 Worst Openi

On today's menu:

1.  At the Powell's blog , Merritt Tierce, whose debut novel Love Me Back is about a waitress addicted to sex and cocaine, talks about how she's been confronted with an unusual question:

     "Has your husband read it?"
     So far I've stifled the following responses:
     "No, has your husband read it?"
     "No, because he's not allowed to read. He has too much to do around the house."
     "Yes,...

Trailer Park Tuesday: The Ploughmen by Kim Zupan

Welcome to Trailer Park Tuesday, a showcase of new book trailers and, in a few cases, previews of book-related movies.

(Note: for those of you who are reading--or who are about to read--The Ploughmen, the video contains a spoiler.  You might want to come back to the trailer after you've finished the book.)




From all outward appearances, Kim Zupan is a nice, mild-mannered guy.  That's why, once I got deeper into the pages of his debut novel The Ploughmen , it came as a jolt to find one o...

My First Time: Bonnie ZoBell

My First Time is a regular feature in which writers talk about virgin experiences in their writing and publishing careers, ranging from their first rejection to the moment of holding their first published book in their hands.  Today’s guest is Bonnie ZoBell, author of a new linked collection of stories from Press 53: What Happened Here .  The book focuses on the site where PSA Flight 182 crashed into North Park, San Diego, in 1978 and features the imaginary characters who live there...

Sunday Sentence: The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

Simply put, the best sentence(s) I’ve read this past week, presented out of context and without commentary.


They carried all they could bear, and then some, including a silent awe for the terrible power of the things they carried.

The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien

"I will not be transcribed": The Nixon Tapes: 1971-1972 by Douglas Brinkley and Luke Nichter

In 1971, I was a shy eight-year-old who mostly lived in his head.  Secrets?  Sure, I guess I had them.  Forty-plus years later, I can't remember what they would have been, but I'm sure they were of global importance to me as a young boy cloistered in his bedroom in Kittanning, Pennsylvania: desire for the cute girl in the third row in my elementary school classroom, the many hours I stayed up past bedtime reading books by flashlight under the covers, the money I regularly stole...

Friday Freebie: Brutal Youth by Anthony Breznican and The Human Body by Paolo Giordano

Congratulations to Rhonda Lomazow, winner of last week's Friday Freebie contest: The Drop by Dennis Lehane.

This week's giveaway is a brilliant pair of new novels: Brutal Youth by Anthony Breznican and The Human Body by Paolo Giordano.  I have hardcover editions of both books to give away to two lucky readers.  Read on for more information about the novels...

Three freshmen must join forces to survive at a troubled, working-class Catholic high school with a student body full of bullie...

Front Porch Books: October 2014 edition

Front Porch Books is a monthly tally of books--mainly advance review copies (aka "uncorrected proofs" and "galleys")--I've received from publishers, but also sprinkled with packages from Book Mooch, Amazon and other sources.  Because my dear friends, Mr. FedEx and Mrs. UPS, leave them with a doorbell-and-dash method of delivery, I call them my Front Porch Books.  In this digital age, ARCs are also beamed to the doorstep of my Kindle via NetGalley and Edelweiss.  Note: most of t...