David Abrams's Blog, page 120

My First Time: A. K. Turner

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 A. K. Turner, a writer from Boise, Idaho who mixes domestic humor and cocktail drinks in equal measure.  She's like a boozy Erma Bombeck.  Pick up any of her books about parenting and marriage and see if you don't agree with me: This Litt...

Sunday Sentence: The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman

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


Moreover he was in possession of a functional and frankly rather clamorous conscience.

The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. by Adelle Waldman

Call of the Wild: Through Glacier Park and Tenting To-night by Mary Roberts Rinehart

The lure of the high places is in your blood.  The call of the mountains is a real call.  The veneer, after all, is so thin.  Throw off the impedimenta of civilization, the telephones, the silly conventions, the lies that pass for truth.  Go out to the West.  Ride slowly, not to startle the wild things.  Throw out your chest and breathe; look across green valleys to wild peaks where mountain sheep stand impassive on the edge of space.  Let the summer rains f...

Friday Freebie: The Bully of Order by Brian Hart and The Big Crowd by Kevin Baker

Congratulations to Elaine Panneton, winner of last week's Friday Freebie: The Great Glass Sea by Josh Weil, Sea Creatures by Susanna Daniel, and The Story of Land and Sea by Katy Simpson Smith.

This week's book giveaway is a pair of novels sure to appeal to lovers of riveting historical fiction.  Up for grabs: The Bully of Order by Brian Hart and The Big Crowd by Kevin Baker.  The Bully of Order is a hardcover, The Big Crowd is a brand-new trade paperback.  Read on for more inf...

Look What I Found: Big Leaguer by William Heyliger and One Minute to Play by Harold M. Sherman

I was never what you'd called sportific.  Artistic, yes; but not sportific.  Save for the occasional Winter Olympics and a two-year fondness for the Braves when I lived in Atlanta, I couldn't care less.  To me, the wide world of sports was loud, boisterous, and boring.   If there is such a thing as a "typical male" (which I doubt very much), I never fit that mold.  I've always preferred an evening with Kurosawa or a combo of Vivaldi (ears) and Austen (eyes) over a two...

Soup and Salad: The Best American Writer You Don't Know, Banging Out Words With Ben Marcus, Kids & Typewriters, 100 Actual Titles of Real 18th-Century Novels, Dumps and Death Threats and Book Tours, The Beauty of Josh Weil's Glass Sea, Zadie Smith's Readin

On today's menu:

1.  ”Why should I let best-seller lists spoil a happy life?”  That's William Maxwell with some practical advice for writers, as quoted at Head Butler , Jesse Kornbluth's never-disappointing blog about arts and culture.  With something akin to stabbing an icicle into my conscience, Mr. Kornbluth reminds me that I still haven't read Maxwell's acclaimed 135-page novel So Long, See You Tomorrow .  What the hell is wrong with me?  It's not like I don't have t...

Soup and Salad: The Best American Writer You Don't Know, Banging Out Words With Ben Marcus, Kids & Typewriters, 100 Actual Titles of Real 18th-Century Novels, Dumps and Death Threats and Book Tours, The Beauty of Josh Weil's Glass Sea, Zadie Smith's Readin

On today's menu:

1.  ”Why should I let best-seller lists spoil a happy life?”  That's William Maxwell with some practical advice for writers, as quoted at Head Butler , Jesse Kornbluth's never-disappointing blog about arts and culture.  With something akin to stabbing an icicle into my conscience, Mr. Kornbluth reminds me that I still haven't read Maxwell's acclaimed 135-page novel So Long, See You Tomorrow .  What the hell is wrong with me?  It's not like I don't have t...

Soup and Salad: The Best American Writer You Don't Know, Banging Out Words With Ben Marcus, Kids & Typewriters, 100 Actual Titles of Real 18th-Century Novels, Dumps and Death Threats and Book Tours, The Beauty of Josh Weil's Glass Sea, Zadie Smith's Readin

On today's menu:

1.  ”Why should I let best-seller lists spoil a happy life?”  That's William Maxwell with some practical advice for writers, as quoted at Head Butler , Jesse Kornbluth's never-disappointing blog about arts and culture.  With something akin to stabbing an icicle into my conscience, Mr. Kornbluth reminds me that I still haven't read Maxwell's acclaimed 135-page novel So Long, See You Tomorrow .  What the hell is wrong with me?  It's not like I don't have t...

Soup and Salad: The Best American Writer You Don't Know, Banging Out Words With Ben Marcus, Kids & Typewriters, 100 Actual Titles of Real 18th-Century Novels, Dumps and Death Threats and Book Tours, The Beauty of Josh Weil's Glass Sea, Zadie Smith's Readin

On today's menu:

1.  ”Why should I let best-seller lists spoil a happy life?”  That's William Maxwell with some practical advice for writers, as quoted at Head Butler , Jesse Kornbluth's never-disappointing blog about arts and culture.  With something akin to stabbing an icicle into my conscience, Mr. Kornbluth reminds me that I still haven't read Maxwell's acclaimed 135-page novel So Long, See You Tomorrow .  What the hell is wrong with me?  It's not like I don't have t...

Soup and Salad: The Best American Writer You Don't Know, Banging Out Words With Ben Marcus, Kids & Typewriters, 100 Actual Titles of Real 18th-Century Novels, Dumps and Death Threats and Book Tours, The Beauty of Josh Weil's Glass Sea, Zadie Smith's Readin

On today's menu:

1.  ”Why should I let best-seller lists spoil a happy life?”  That's William Maxwell with some practical advice for writers, as quoted at Head Butler , Jesse Kornbluth's never-disappointing blog about arts and culture.  With something akin to stabbing an icicle into my conscience, Mr. Kornbluth reminds me that I still haven't read Maxwell's acclaimed 135-page novel So Long, See You Tomorrow .  What the hell is wrong with me?  It's not like I don't have t...