David Abrams's Blog, page 135

Making Poetry of Pain: an interview with Cara Hoffman

While women currently comprise about 14 percent of the U.S. military, war literature with central female protagonists in uniform is sorely lacking.  There’s Helen Benedict’s 2011 novel Sand Queen , a great short story by Mariette Kalinowski in the anthology Fire and Forget , and any number of memoirs, but comparatively little else (if I'm overlooking something, feel free to set me straight).  Cara Hoffman’s new novel Be Safe I Love You now joins those thin ranks and adds a compelling...

My First Time: Heather Corbally Bryant

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 Heather Corbally Bryant.  She's the author of How Will the Heart Endure: Elizabeth Bowen and the Landscape of War  (non-fiction, University of Michigan Press), Through Your Hands  (fiction, Rising Star), Cheap Grace  (poems, Finish...

Sunday Sentence: Sleep Donation by Karen Russell

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


His handwriting is neat and evenly spaced; the only unusual thing about it is that Donor Y wrote in tiny all-capitals, like a scream shrunken down into a whisper.

Sleep Donation by Karen Russell

Thinking Inside the (Status) Box, a guest essay by Jo Deurbrouck

The story goes: Ernest Hemingway once convinced a group of dinner companions to bet him $10 each that he couldn’t write a story short enough to fit on a bar napkin.  Hemingway collected their money—and, I’d like to think, stood a round—after scrawling these words: “For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.”

The bar napkin story is probably a fiction, but that doesn't seem to impact its popularity.  Just now I googled “for sale: baby shoes,” and was rewarded with seven pages of Hemingway hit...

Friday Freebie: The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer, The Road From Gap Creek by Robert Morgan

Congratulations to Elaine Panneton, winner of last week's Friday Freebie: Up at Butternut Lake by Mary McNear and Golden State by Michelle Richmond.

This week's book giveaway is a trio of novels which will provide hours of bookish delights for all readers.  One lucky person will win a copy of all three novels: The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin, The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells by Andrew Sean Greer, and The Road From Gap Creek by Robert Morgan.  The Storied Life of...

It's publication day for Fobbit! (Soft UK version)

Today marks the third official publication date for my little book about the Iraq War (following the U.S. debut in trade paperback from Grove/Atlantic in September 2012, and the hardback version which came out in the United Kingdom about a year ago).  I'm so very happy with this classy paperback of Fobbit from Harvill Secker (whose parent company is Penguin Random House) which hits British shelves starting today.  If you're in the U.K. (or know someone who is), your help in spreadin...

On Literary Role Models by Cara Hoffman

When I was a child my favorite story was a piece by James Thurber that my mother used to read to me.  It was called “ Something to Say ,” about an alcoholic writer named Elliot Vereker.  Vereker was an eccentric whose genius was confirmed by the number of terrible things he did; freeloading on friends, crashing parties, breaking light bulbs on the ground because he liked the sound of shattering glass, wrenching plumbing away from the walls of other people's apartments and denouncing t...

Trailer Park Tuesday: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

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


I love the story Anthony Doerr tells at the beginning of the trailer for his new novel:

In 2004, I came up to New York City, went into Penn Station, and the man in front of me started complaining about the reception on his cell phone. We're eighty feet underground, he's bashing on his little device, and I'm thinking, "What you're forgetting, mister, is that this is a beautiful...

Bookstore of the Month: Avid Bookshop

Avid Bookshop
493 Prince Ave.
Athens, GA  30601
(706) 352-2060
avid.athens@gmail.com
Avid Bookshop on Facebook
Avid Bookshop on Twitter
Avid Bookshop on Instagram

The first thing you should know about Avid Bookshop is that its booksellers like to talk about you behind your back.

“I have a confession to make,” owner Janet Geddis told me in an email.  “More often than not, when a customer leaves the store we say something about him or her the moment he/she has left.  You know what it is...

My First Time: Jeffrey Shaffer

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 Jeffrey Shaffer.  He's been writing fiction, essays, and commentaries about American culture for more than 25 years.  His work has appeared in a wide range of publications including The New Yorker, BARK, The Wall Street Journal, the Chris...