David Abrams's Blog, page 6
February 2, 2020
Sunday Sentence: The War Makes Everyone Lonely by Graham Barnhart
Simply put, the best sentence(s) I’ve read this past week, presented out of context and without commentary.
There was gunfire, and it painted the wind red.
“Goat in the Cleared Village” from The War Makes Everyone Lonely by Graham Barnhart
January 31, 2020
Friday Freebie: Pax Americana by Kurt Baumeister
Congratulations to Cheryl Riniker, winner of last week’s Friday Freebie contest: The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison.
This week’s contest is for Pax Americana by Kurt Baumeister. I have a trade paperback copy of the book to put in the hands of one lucky reader. Caroline Leavitt, author of Cruel Beautiful World, says of the book: “The thriller’s been reinvented, smartened up, and rendered blazingly funny in Kurt Baumeister’s wild, raucous ride of a novel.” Keep scrolling for more...
January 26, 2020
Sunday Sentence: Essays After Eighty by Donald Hall
Simply put, the best sentence(s) I’ve read this past week, presented out of context and without commentary.
Poems are image-bursts from brain-depths, words flavored by buttery long vowels.
Essays After Eighty by Donald Hall
January 24, 2020
Friday Freebie: The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison
Congratulations to Julie Geisler, winner of last week’s Friday Freebie contest: Everywhere You Don’t Belong by Gabriel Bump.
This week’s contest is for The Source of Self-Regard by Toni Morrison. I have one trade paperback copy of the book to put in the hands of one lucky reader. It’s impossible to argue with the New York Times when it writes: “Morrison is more than the standard bearer of American literature. She is our greatest singer. And this book is perhaps her most important song.” Keep...
January 19, 2020
Sunday Sentence: The Best Poems of Jane Kenyon
Simply put, the best sentence(s) I’ve read this past week, presented out of context and without commentary.
God does not leave us
comfortless, so let evening come.
from “Let Evening Come” in The Best Poems of Jane Kenyon
New Year, New City, New Apartment, New Writing Space
“Oh, wow,” I said as we took our seats at the large table in the back room of the title company.
“What?” Jean said.
“This is the same table and the same chairs we sat in eleven years ago.”
My wife took stock of the room. “You’re right. That is weird.”
“Full circle,” I said as I reached for a pen to start signing the papers.
It was the end of a decade-long chapter in our lives, a long chapter full of ups and too many downs for the both of us. It was the longest either of us had lived in one...
January 17, 2020
Friday Freebie: Everywhere You Don’t Belong by Gabriel Bump
Congratulations to JT O’Neill, winner of last week’s Friday Freebie contest: Horizon by Barry Lopez.
This week’s contest is for Everywhere You Don’t Belong by Gabriel Bump. I have one hardcover copy of the book to put in the hands of one lucky reader. Here’s what Peter Orner, author of Maggie Brown and Others , had to say about the novel: “Sometimes you open a book and you know from the very first page, this thing’s alive. You know what I mean? (How often does this not happen? You open a book...
January 16, 2020
Fresh Ink: January 2020 edition
Fresh Ink* is a monthly tally of new and forthcoming books—mainly advance review copies (aka “uncorrected proofs” and “galleys”)—I’ve received from publishers. Cover art and opening lines may change before the book is finally released. I should also mention that, in nearly every case, I haven’t had a chance to read these books, but they’re definitely going in the to-be-read pile.
[*Since I have recently moved into a new apartment, sans an actual front porch, I decided to rename this...
January 12, 2020
Sunday Sentence: Bad Kansas by Becky Mandelbaum
Simply put, the best sentence(s) I’ve read this past week, presented out of context and without commentary.
I held my tongue, pressed my fingernails into my palms, where they left little frowns of pain.
from “The Golden State” in Bad Kansas by Becky Mandelbaum
January 10, 2020
Friday Freebie: Horizon by Barry Lopez
Congratulations to Carl Scott, winner of last week’s Friday Freebie contest: The Story of a Goat by Perumal Murugan.
This week’s contest is for Horizon by Barry Lopez (author of Arctic Dreams and Winter Count ). Here’s what Colum McCann had to say about the book: “Nobody journeys like Barry Lopez. He’s humble, he’s ethical, he’s honest, he’s curious, he’s doubtful, he’s properly sad and he’s wild. He wakes us up to the worth and the mystery of the world. His great affection for humanity comes...
