David Abrams's Blog, page 148
October 27, 2013
Sunday Sentence: On Kingdom Mountain by Howard Frank Mosher
Simply put, the best sentence(s) I've read this past week, presented out of context and without commentary.
Live each day not as though it is your last, but as though it is the last day of the lives of the people you meet.
On Kingdom Mountain by Howard Frank Mosher
October 26, 2013
Everything Happens In Bed: an interview with Jessica Keener
Interview by Joyce Norman
As I turned the last page of Women in Bed , Jessica Keener’s new collection of mesmerizing short stories, I realized I loved this book so much, I wanted to have a conversation with the author. Her words are bold and brave and they moved me—to the point that I began to write questions in the margins as I read. Her book is chock-full of each character’s truth and intimate emotions. I can’t remember when I’ve been so touched by an author’s words or her...
October 25, 2013
Front Porch Books: October 2013 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...
Friday Freebie: An Unbridled Giveaway
Congratulations to A. W. McKinnon, winner of last week's Friday Freebie: The Hunter and Other Stories by Dashiell Hammett.
This week's book giveaway is one of the most unique and personally gratifying Friday Freebies I've ever posted in The Quivering Pen's three-year history. A couple of months ago, I was contacted by Greg Michalson, co-publisher (along with Fred Ramey) of
Unbridled Books
. Greg said he was going through some old boxes of Unbridled books and came across some titles...
October 24, 2013
My Library: Roxana Robinson and Her Grandfather's Bookroom
Reader: Roxana RobinsonLocation: This house is in northwestern Connecticut.
Collection size: I have no idea. Three storeys of books.
The one book I'd run back into a burning building to rescue: A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
Favorite book from childhood: Silver Snaffles by Primrose Cummings
Guilty pleasure book: P.G. Wodehouse, or any good English detective books. Or anything by Tana French.
I now live in a house which was built by my gr...
October 23, 2013
Sherman Alexie and James Lee Burke Murder Mediocrity in Missoula
By the time I arrived at the 14th annual Humanities Montana Festival of the Book two weeks ago, Sherman Alexie had already set the town on fire. People kept coming up to me, wide-eyed and short of breath, asking, "Did you hear Sherman last night?" It was all "Sherman this" and "Sherman that" everywhere I turned in Missoula. It seemed I had missed the Event of the Year by arriving at the festival the day after the author of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven and Th...
October 22, 2013
Trailer Park Tuesday: Simple Dreams by Linda Ronstadt
Welcome to Trailer Park Tuesday, a showcase of new book trailers and, in a few cases, previews of book-related movies.
Today, I thought I'd serve up something a little different for Trailer Park Tuesday. Normally, I use this space to critique trailers of books and book-flavored films, but today's post will be something a little more autobiographical. Those who have no interest in "David Abrams, the Teenage Years" are advised to click away now...
When Simon & Schuster sent me the...
October 21, 2013
My First Time: Rochelle Jewel Shapiro
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 Rochelle Jewel Shapiro, author of the novel
Miriam the Medium
, which was nominated for the Harold Ribelow Award. Rochelle has published essays in NYT (Lives) and Newsweek. Her second novel,
Kaylee’s Ghost
, was finalist in the 2013 Indie...
October 20, 2013
Sunday Sentence: Mayakovsky's Revolver by Matthew Dickman
Simply put, the best sentence(s) I've read this past week, presented out of context and without commentary.
The subterranean elegance of shadows
and the moon like the inside of a jawbreaker
after all the color has been licked off,
all that sweet dye and sugar,
layer by layer
until only the soul of the thing is left, the hard center
that will choke you to death
if you're not careful.
"Gas Station" from Mayakovsky's Revolver by Matthew Dickman
October 19, 2013
Baseball, Booze, and Three-Legged Dogs: Metaphor and Meaning in High and Inside by Russell Rowland
High and Inside
By Russell Rowland
Reviewed by Curtis Edmonds
It is always a bad idea to get soppy and sentimental about baseball. You can do it, of course. Some people live their lives that way. But it’s not productive, and it’s not healthy, and I am saying this as a former Dr. Pepper Junior Texas Ranger. It is perfectly okay to remember your childhood, and sitting in the bleachers, and watching Reggie Jackson and Rod Carew terrorize Rangers pitchers. But when you...
