David Abrams's Blog, page 152

On the Road Again: Fobbit Book Tour Redux

The title of this blog post really should have been the Walter Kirn -ish "Up in the Air" since there will be more planes than trains and automobiles in this autumn book tour schedule.  Just when I thought it was safe to let down my tray table and recline my seat back, here we go again....

After a summer of recharging my batteries and pretending to do some legitimate work on my next book (while, in reality, doing more blogging, reading, and toiling at the Paycheck Job), it's time for me to...

Friday Freebie: The Residue Years by Mitchell S. Jackson

Congratulations to Jennifer Myllymaki, winner of last week's Friday Freebie twin mega-pack of fiction: The Woman Who Lost Her Soul by Bob Shacochis and Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon.

This week's book giveaway is The Residue Years , the debut novel by Mitchell S. Jackson which has just been published Bloomsbury.  For those of you who want a taste of Jackson's writing, check out his earlier contribution to the My First Time series here at The Quivering Pen about desperately trying to ge...

A Fine Literary Tapestry: Someone by Alice McDermott

Someone
by Alice McDermott
Reviewed by Sabra Wineteer

With the publication of her seventh novel,  Someone , Alice McDermott enriches her literary tradition.  While A Bigamist’s Daughter —her first novel, published in 1982—ushered McDermott’s writing into the world, it wasn’t until her second novel, That Night , that the acclaimed author established her unique style.  That sophomore novel with its lyrical prose was a finalist for three separate and illustrious literary awards: the Puli...

I'm on Fire for Lolita

Remember my wallow of self-piteous agony a few days ago?  The "gee-I-wish-I-had-more-time-to-read-the-classics" boo-hoo fest?

Well, I'm still boo-hoo'ing a little bit (sorry, Thomas Hardy--you'll have to wait), but I pulled myself up by my time-management bootstraps and said, "Okay, today really is the day."  After I posted about my Unreads on Facebook, the comments started flowing in:

"You cannot die without reading Lolita, one of the saddest most heartbreakingly funny books in the E...

Trailer Park Tuesday: What Happens Next? by Douglas Bauer

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


The subtitle of Douglas Bauer's latest book, What Happens Next? , is "Matters of Life and Death" and there is a pervasive air of sweet melancholy running throughout the three-minute trailer for the collection of essays about mortality in his family.  I'll admit I was initially turned off by the overripe music playing in the background (too insistently-orchestrated to bring...

My First Time: Charles McLeod

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 Charles McLeod, author of the novel  American Weather  and a collection of stories, National Treasures .  His third book, a prose hybrid entitled Asocliasm, Zemblanity, is forthcoming from University of Michigan Press in 2014.  His...

Sunday Sentence: The Cineaste by A. Van Jordan

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


Movies tell stories I wish I could live.

from "The Homesteader" in The Cineaste by A. Van Jordan

Fake-Reading the Classics: True Confessions of a Dude Who Never Read Jane Eyre

I think I had a pretty good college education, thanks to the programs at the Universities of Wyoming, Oregon and Alaska.  Those classes introduced me to some of the literary pillars of my life: Flannery O'Connor, Charles Dickens, James Fenimore Cooper, et al.  But for every Things Fall Apart that was forced-fed to me on my graduate reading list, there were an equal number of unread Thomas Hardy novels.

I've never lied about my Unreads, never puffed myself up during cocktail chatter,...

Letter to My 1983 Self

In May 2013, my wife and I found ourselves back at the beginning of our marriage, driving the foggy, serpentine roads which hug the central Oregon coast.  We were there thanks to the good people at the Coos County Library who'd selected Fobbit as the Title Wave community-wide read for 2013.  We drove through North Bend, Florence and Seaside, overdosing on nostalgia .  As we passed the Sea Lion Caves, the Devil's Churn , and the original Mo's Chowder House , we were caught in a fla...

Friday Freebie: The Woman Who Lost Her Soul by Bob Shacochis and Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon

Congratulations to Tisa Houck, winner of last week's Friday Freebie contest: The Girl You Left Behind and Me Before You , two excellent novels by Jojo Moyes.

This week's book giveaway is epic!  In all senses of the word.  The Quivering Pen is proud to bring you two thick, gorgeous novels: The Woman Who Lost Her Soul by Bob Shacochis and Telegraph Avenue by Michael Chabon (the new paperback version).  That's nearly four pounds of books, ladies and gentlemen!  I read (and enjo...