David Abrams's Blog, page 62

The Truth About Raymond Carver

Raymond Carver (left) with his brother James
James Carver would like to set the record straight.

Over the years, his brother Raymond’s life has been distorted by those who’d like to hitch a ride on the famous writer’s coattails. “Everyone seems to have an agenda when writing about my brother,” James writes in a personal remembrance published at Electric Literature today, on what would have been Raymond Carver’s 78th birthday had he not died (much too early) in 1988. The essay, which has the Ca...

Trailer Park Tuesday: Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk by Ben Fountain (and Ang Lee)

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


Movie trailers lie to us all the time. They promise one thing, but then sometimes deliver something altogether different by the time we’re settled into our seat with our half-gallon of Mountain Dew and tub of popcorn drenched in butter substitute. Remember the preview for Sweeney Todd ? The unsuspecting moviegoer would have no idea that what looked like a Tim Burton and Johnny...

My First Time: Margo Orlando Littell

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 Margo Orlando Littell, author of Each Vagabond by Name , a debut novel set in Pennsylvania and published by the University of New Orleans Press. Each Vagabond by Name was the winner of the press’s UNO Publishing Lab Prize. In the email accompanying her “f...

Sunday Sentence: Night Sky With Exit Wounds by Ocean Vuong

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


          O father, O foreshadow, press
          into her—as the field shreds itself

          with cricket cries.

“A Little Closer to the Edge”
from Night Sky With Exit Wounds  by Ocean Vuong

Friday Freebie: Safe From the Sea and The Lighthouse Road by Peter Geye

Congratulations to Julia Brown, Michael Cooper, Shaundelle Moore, Martha Gifford, and Ginger Heatwole, winners of last week’s Friday Freebie giveaway: Heart Attack Watch by Alyson Foster

This week’s book contest features two novels by Peter Geye: Safe From the Sea and The Lighthouse Road , both published by Unbridled Books. Peter’s newest novel, Wintering , will be released next month, so if you haven’t already read his backlist, the Friday Freebie is here to help. Unbridled Books will send cop...

Finding My Novel: Jack Fuller, the Vietnam War, and the Fragments of a Book

My problem as a novelist had never been writer’s block. Mine had been finding a story worth the weight of a novel. When I got drafted and sent to Vietnam, solving my literary problem was nowhere near the top of my mind. In fact the problem did not even surface again until I was long out of the Army.

When I got to Vietnam, I somehow found my way to the odd institution that was then Pacific Stars and Stripes. Virtually all of Stripes’ journalists had had some professional experience before endi...

My First Time: Patrick Dacey

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 Patrick Dacey, author of We’ve Already Gone This Far . George Saunders had this to say about the short story collection and its author: “Patrick Dacey is one of my favorite young American writers. The stories in We've Already Gone This Far are dangerous,...

Sunday Sentence: On the Occasion of My Daughter’s Wedding

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

This week’s sentence is one I heard twice yesterday: during a wedding ceremony and at the reception that followed. My beautiful, purple-haired daughter Kylie was united in marriage to a prince of a man, Dave Liddick, in front of a small gathering of family and friends in a pristine clearing on Homestake Pass, just a few minutes from our home in Butte, Montana, and not far from where Kyl...

Friday Freebie: Heart Attack Watch by Alyson Foster

Congratulations to Christine Neuman, winner of last week’s Friday Freebie giveaway: They Could Live With Themselves by Jodi Paloni.

This week’s book contest features  Heart Attack Watch by Alyson Foster. The publisher is generously offering five copies of the short story collection to give away to five lucky readers. Earlier here at the blog, you may recall reading about Alyson’s “first time” experience ; if your curiosity was piqued by that blog post, now is your chance to read her work a...

Front Porch Books: May 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...