Kristopher Jansma's Blog, page 11
January 15, 2016
rachelspacecadet:
After I read a good book, I have the hardest...
After I read a good book, I have the hardest time coping with reality.
Me too. Writing one seems to help.
January 13, 2016
I can’t believe I’m holding this book right now. I...
I can’t believe I’m holding this book right now. I can’t wait to finally share it with all of you.
February 16th, wherever books are sold.
“We came to the city because we wished to live haphazardly… ”
#whywecametothecity
January 11, 2016
Another great pre-pub review for Why We Came to the City, this...
Another great pre-pub review for Why We Came to the City, this time from Publisher’s Weekly!
“Jansma’s compelling paean to New York City features a group of post-college friends who manage the vagaries of love and friendship against the backdrop of living in the big city: opportunity, stress, beauty, as well as the allure of the über rich juxtaposed against the impoverished. […] Underneath the interactions between the characters lurks an examination of relationships and the ways friendship is tested when one in their midst is beset by a rare form of cancer. Steering clear of the maudlin, the author gives searing portrayals of both challenging cancer treatment and how true friends rise to the occasion when necessary. Jansma (The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards) pens a tightly-written, smartly conceived story that puts an insightful spin on life in the Big Apple.”
January 10, 2016
Another glowing review for Why We Came to the City!
From...
Another glowing review for Why We Came to the City!
From Publisher’s Weekly:
“Jansma’s compelling paean to New York City features a group of post-college friends who manage the vagaries of love and friendship against the backdrop of living in the big city: opportunity, stress, beauty, as well as the allure of the über rich juxtaposed against the impoverished. […] Underneath the interactions between the characters lurks an examination of relationships and the ways friendship is tested when one in their midst is beset by a rare form of cancer. Steering clear of the maudlin, the author gives searing portrayals of both challenging cancer treatment and how true friends rise to the occasion when necessary. Jansma (The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards) pens a tightly-written, smartly conceived story that puts an insightful spin on life in the Big Apple.”
January 6, 2016
Pleased to be among the Most Anticipated Books of (the first...
Pleased to be among the Most Anticipated Books of (the first half of) 2016! Thanks very much to The Millions for including Why We Came to the City and for these kind words:
“Why We Came to the City by Kristopher Jansma: Kirkus described this book as an ode to friendship, but it could just as easily be described as a meditation on mortality. Jansma’s second novel — his first was The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards, published in 2014 — follows the intertwined lives and increasingly dark trajectories of a group of four young friends in New York City.”
December 31, 2015
The first few pages of my new story “Chumship” are...
“The first thing he ever told me was that Clark wasn’t his real name. They’d stuck him with his father’s name, but the minute he turned eighteen he’d be changing it officially from ‘James.’ In the meantime, he wanted everyone to call him Clark. He’d explained this to everyone in a short essay he read aloud on the first day of Adventures for Young Writers, our weeklong summer camp, held at the local community college. That summer I had already done Model Rocket Engineering, Soccer II, Ocean Exploration, and 'I’ll See You in Court!’ Adventures for Young Writers was my favorite; I took it every summer, and all year looked forward to the hours I’d spend counting sestina syllables, making up short stories, and banging away on the word processors at the typing lab.
"Clark and his friend Sam were the only other boys in the group that year, and we sat together at lunch without any prior agreement. Sam was pudgy and short, with a bowl of straw-colored hair that was too long in the front. Clark was something else altogether. My height, with a cleft chin and a constant smirk. He wore khakis, a braided brown belt, penny loafers, and a pastel green polo shirt. Even when we weren’t writing, he gripped a black pen in one hand—a gesture of admiration, I’d later learn in another essay, for then-presidential-candidate Bob Dole. He and Sam were a year younger than me, about to enter the eighth grade a few towns over. We had no friends in common outside of camp, which wasn’t surprising; none of us had many friends to begin with.
"When I joined them at the cafeteria table, they seemed to be playing some kind of game: casually eyeing a nearby table of older girls, sporty types, with ponytails and headbands.
”'They’re Bulgarians,’ Sam whispered.“
December 29, 2015
Many thanks to Kirkus Reviews for a wonderful first review of my...
Many thanks to Kirkus Reviews for a wonderful first review of my new novel, Why We Came to the City, out on February 16th!
“…a deeply emotional ode to friendship—to the people who make you feel alive and who you follow without question and to the bonds that endure, even if only in memory.”
[You can read the full review here!]
(P.S. - Contrary to what the review says, I promise there are no adult diapers in the book.)
December 23, 2015
December 21, 2015
Hey if you are looking for some great books to read in...
Hey if you are looking for some great books to read in 2016… after all the ones you still need to finish from 2015 of course… Check out this badass list from @bustle, which includes a not-so-little something called #whywecametothecity!
Senior Editor Meredith Turits says Why We Came to the City… “is poised to make Jansma a name you know. It’s lively and elegant, and I promise that you’re going to love it.”
