David Abrams's Blog, page 59

Soup and Salad: James Joyce Illuminates Karl Ove Knausgaard, Matthew Norman on Every Writer’s Worst Nightmare, What’s in a Publisher’s Name?, RIP Lois Duncan and Jack Fuller

On today’s menu:

1.  “I longed to get away. What I wanted was to write, and I resolved to read this marvelous work and be illuminated by all its radiance.” In his introduction to the new Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition of James Joyce’s A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man , Karl Ove Knausgaard ( My Struggle ) writes about how the Irish writer’s masterpiece shone a light on his life and career:

Even now, 27 years after I first read the book, its moods come back to me. The rain-drenched sch...

Sunday Sentence: Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope

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


In person Dr. Proudie is a good-looking man; spruce and dapper, and very tidy. He is somewhat below middle height, being about five feet four; but he makes up for the inches which he wants by the dignity with which he carries those which he has.

Barchester Towers  by Anthony Trollope

Friday Freebie: This is Your Life, Harriet Chance! by Jonathan Evison

Congratulations to Mike O’Brien, winner of last week’s Friday Freebie giveaway: Orient by Christopher Bollen.

This week’s book contest is for a new paperback copy of This is Your Life, Harriet Chance! by Jonathan Evison. The highly-acclaimed novel has many admirers, including Ben Fountain (author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk) who said, “This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance! has all the wonderful snap and sizzle we've come to expect from Jonathan Evison’s work, and as much heart as any nove...

My First Time: Richard Hawley

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 Richard Hawley, author of the new novel The Three Lives of Jonathan Force . His previous books include The Headmaster’s Papers , The Headmaster’s Wife , and Greeves Passing . Richard Hawley was born in 1945 in Chicago and attended suburban public schools in...

Sunday Sentence: The Warden by Anthony Trollope

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



He took such high ground there was no getting on it.

The Warden  by Anthony Trollope

Friday Freebie: Orient by Christopher Bollen

Congratulations to Paul Clark, Jane Rainey and Carl Scott, winners of last week’s Friday Freebie giveaway: One From Without by Jack Fuller.

This week’s book contest is for a paperback copy of Orient , a novel by Christopher Bollen. Amazon named it a Best Mystery of 2015 and Philipp Meyer (author of The Son) said it was like “The Great Gatsby meets Donna Tartt. Suspenseful, beautifully written, and wonderfully atmospheric, Orient is that rare treat that is both a page-turner and a book you will...

Front Porch Books: June 2016 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, independent bookstores, 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: many...

My First Time: Askold Melnyczuk

Photo by Alex Johnson 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 Askold Melnyczuk, author of several novels, including  The House of Widows , Ambassador of the Dead , and What is Told . His latest novel is Smedley’s Secret Guide to World Literature . His stories, poems, essays, translations, and r...

Sunday Sentence: Then We Came to the End by Joshua Ferris

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

We pulled the strings on the people across the land and by god they got to their feet and they danced for us.

Then We Came to the End  by Joshua Ferris

Friday Freebie: One From Without by Jack Fuller

Congratulations to James Stolen, winner of last week’s Friday Freebie giveaway: Night Sky With Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong.

This week’s book contest is for the new novel by Jack Fuller, One From Without . The publisher, Unbridled Books, is generously offering three copies of the book to Quivering Pen readers. Here’s more about One From Without...

A large credit reporting company sees the era of Big Data coming. Its CEO dreams of knowing so much about the people it tracks that it will be able to...