Alex Kudera's Blog, page 99
June 30, 2017
June 25, 2017
Andrew Glenn's The Gardens of the King
Poet, translator, and traveling song-and-dance man Andrew Glenn's The Gardens of the King received warm praise from Pacific Book Review's Lisa Brown-Gilbert. This "rousing and well-crafted" historical novel is available at your local independent bookstore as well as online retailers.
June 21, 2017
Andrew Glenn's The Gardens of the King
Poet, translator, and traveling song-and-dance man Andrew Glenn's The Gardens of the King received warm praise at Pacific Book Review. If you like historical comedy in which Ben Franklin romances Marie Antoinette consider checking out this novel.
June 18, 2017
Rigged
As I left the supermarket, this USA Today print cover story caught my eye, "Rigged: Forced into debt. Worked to exhaustion. Left with nothing." I took another look at an online version of the story and read that many truckers are being classified as independent contractors and working long hours only to owe the shipping companies money or receive a 67-cent check at the end of the week. For too many, the American nightmare continued through the Obama years, and goodness knows what awaits them under the current regime.
June 17, 2017
What did I long for?
"What did I long for? At twenty-three, I of course longed for fame. Not only did I long for it, I suffered the singular notion that fame was an heirloom passed on from my father. Dead at forty, which never obviates the stuff of myths, my father acquired over the years a nostalgic eminence in Watertown; and, like him, I wanted to have my name called back and bantered about in consecrated whispers."
~~ from A Fan's Notes by Frederick Exley
~~ from A Fan's Notes by Frederick Exley
June 15, 2017
the struggle to find a publisher. . .
Richard Ford's "I'd spit again" concerning a Colson Whitehead negative review brought me to another Guardian piece on John Kennedy Toole's struggle to find a publisher. It's tough out there, so do the best you can and remember to appreciate any small success that comes your way. Good luck, always. I need it too.
June 10, 2017
online excerpts of Auggie's Revenge
Published excerpts from Auggie's Revenge can be read at
American, British and Canadian Studies
, Beating Windward Press, and When Falls the Coliseum.
June 8, 2017
New Books from David Ebenbach
Philadelphia's own David Ebenbach has published two new books this year. The Guy We Didn't Invite to the Orgy and Other Stories arrived in January, and Miss Portland, a Novel , arrived this week from Orison Books. Forward Reviews writes of Miss Portland:
A moving paean to becoming the place where you belong…..a complex, intimate, and deeply humane portrait of a person whose experience of the world is both alternate and poignantly familiar. Ebenbach captures a profound vulnerability in Zoe’s dichotomies. At the heart, Zoe wants to root and connect. While she grasps at straws with one hand, she offers whatever she’s managed to grasp with the other. Rather than discourage her, Zoe’s difference sharpens her conviction. Yet, as Zoe’s story unfolds, Ebenbach’s sensitive portrayal resists easy answers or convenient endings. Zoe’s quest for a happy ending may take her to Portland, Maine, but, ultimately, it leads her back to herself.
Follow David Ebenbach's news at his blog, or connect with him on Facebook where he has fun and informative presence.
June 6, 2017
Auggie's Revenge at American, British and Canadian Studies
An excerpt from and a book review of Auggie's Revenge appears in the June 2017 issue of the European academic journal
American, British and Canadian Studies
. The excerpt is behind a paywall but will soon appear as an open-access publication. I'm very grateful for any support I receive in the form of book purchases or asking a public or university library to acquire a copy. Thank you!
