David Abrams's Blog, page 185

Not Your Average Road Trip Novel: The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison

The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving
By Jonathan Evison
Algonquin Books
Guest Review by Brian Seemann

It should come as little surprise that the front cover of Jonathan Evison’s latest novel, The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving , displays a blurb from Stewart O’Nan—an adept storyteller with the ability to span the range of human emotions within a short amount of space.  His latest novel,  The Odds: A Love Story , covers a dissolving marriage, and in the process, he infuses the tension...

Door Kickers and Moneymakers in Iraq: Fobbit at Electric Literature

I'm a long-time fan of Electric Literature and the recent  Recommended Reading series in particular.  From their mission statement: “In this age of distraction, we’re uncovering writing that’s worth slowing down and spending some time with.  And in doing so, we’re giving great writers, literary magazines, and independent presses the recognition (and readership) they deserve.”  I have yet to be disappointed by anything I read at Electric Literature.  The best part...

Fobbit Tour: The Country Bookshelf in Bozeman, MT

Montana bookstores are the comfort food of the book world.  Walk through the doors of a shop like Fact and Fiction in Missoula, Chapter One in Hamilton, Elk River Books in Livingston, or even Books and Books here in Butte, and you'll soon realize you're in a place that values and cherishes the printed word.  Sure, that can be said of most independent bookstores across the United States, but it's especially evident here in Big Sky Country.  These are stores where you are gu...

Trailer Park Tuesday: Trust Your Eyes by Linwood Barclay

Welcome to Trailer Park Tuesday , a showcase of new book trailers and, in a few cases, previews of book-related movies. Unless their last name is Grisham or King, authors will probably never see their trailers on the big screen at the local cineplex. And that's a shame because a lot of hard work goes into producing these short marriages between book and video. So, if you like what you see, please spread the word and help these videos go viral.





Swift, suspenseful, and jolting, the trailer for Li...

My First Time: Jennifer Spiegel

  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 Jennifer Spiegel, author of the just-released debut novel Love Slave from Unbridled Books.  Her collection of short stories, The Freak Chronicles , was released earlier this year by Dzanc Books.  Regular readers of The Quivering Pen...

Look What I Found: The Deerslayer by James Fenimore Cooper

Look What I Found is an occasional series on books I've hunted-and-gathered at garage sales, used bookstores, estate sales, and the occasional pilfering from a friend's bookshelf when his back is turned. I have a particular fondness for U.S. novels written between 1896 and 1931. If I sniff a book and it makes me sneeze, I'm bound to fall in love.


True confession: as an undergrad at the University of Oregon, I had a mad crush on James Fenimore Cooper.  For at least two semesters, I ate, br...

More Vanity Links: Fobbit, New Tour Stops, "Numb," The Rumpus, NPR, Other People, and the Most Excellentest Giveaway in the History of The Quivering Pen

Here's the latest herd of ME-centered links, lassoed and corralled from all around the web.  Plus, scroll down for one of the biggest and best giveaways I've ever offered here at the blog.

1.  Curtis Edmonds at Bookreporter very kindly reviewed Fobbit .  The fact that he mentions one of my favorite movies, Groundhog Day, is just like gravy on the cake:

      For a civilian reader--and FOBBIT deserves a wide non-military audience--the world of FOB Triumph m...

Friday Freebie: Vandal Love and Cures for Hunger by Deni Y. Bechard

Congratulations to Beverly Sizemore, winner of last week's Friday Freebie: Cascade by Maryanne O'Hara.

This week's book giveaway is a double-header from author Deni Y. Bechard.  Milkweed Editions published two of his books earlier this year and it's my pleasure to be able to offer a copy of both Vandal Love and Cures for Hunger to one lucky reader.

Here's the publisher's blurb for Vandal Love which has been compared to the work of a wide range of writers including Gabriel Garcia Marquez, W...

Fobbit Patches, Wild Dog & Suicide Bomber Fail

I'm too short on time today to post any meaningful literary content, so I've gone back to the pages of the journal I kept during my year in Iraq to give you three days' worth of entries.  Readers of Fobbit will perhaps find the September 14 incident vaguely familiar....

September 12, 2005:  I hear about some hardcore battalion commander with too much time and money on his hands who had a bunch of patches made at his own expense.  They looked just like Ranger tabs, but said “Fobb...

Front Porch Books: September 2012 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...