Scott Semegran
Year of the Buffalo by Aaron Burch is a humorous novel of literary fiction about the lingering familial dysfunction between two brothers. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “Ernie and his brother, Scott, have never seen eye-to-eye—literally or figuratively. Scott's a mountain of a man; Ernie's a meek computer analyst with a shambles of a marriage, who never, ever answers the phone when his brother calls. That all changes when Scott is introduced as the face of Go West!, a video game featuring his old wrestling persona, Mr. Bison. Now among the nouveau riche, Scott invites Ernie to come live with him and his pregnant wife, Holly, a teacher and aspiring diarist, on their new farm—complete with a living, breathing buffalo, Billy. When the video-game producers call on Scott to help sell Go West!, Holly orchestrates an American road trip that sends the brothers eastward and into the less-traveled depths of their hearts and memories. What ensues is an episodic tale that examines themes of grief, sibling rivalry, ambition, and the repercussions of toxic masculinity as it follows the Isaacson brothers' fumbling attempts to reestablish their childhood relationship—or what they wish that relationship had been.”
On the surface, this novel is about the coming together of two brothers who couldn't be more different and the ensuing road trip that will hopefully bring them back together. But what this novel is really about is what happens in the margins, and the thoughts behind the silent yet awkward moments and the sighs of discontent between two siblings who never really “got” each other. When brothers Ernie and Scott are reunited after Scott is named the face for a forthcoming video game featuring his past alter-ego as a pro wrestler, an idea is hatched that they'll spend time together on a road trip. The trip is a painful reminder of their familial dysfunction—both past and present.
Much of the novel deep-dives into digressions and asides, where memories and feelings are parsed. Interiority is the prime narrative force and used to maximum effect. For example, a trip to the hardware store turns into an examination of Ernie's place in the world, his place in his new living situation with his brother and his wife on their farm, what creatures live in the wooded area on the way to the store, questions of his own handiness, etc. The difference between the two brothers becomes very apparent in this marginalia and is the crux to deciding if these very different people can ever find common ground. Do you think a computer analyst and a former pro wrestler can find common ground? Seems practically impossible. These two brothers have had their whole lives up to this point to find it. Can they do it?
Year of the Buffalo is a worthy literary exploration, both humorous and crushing in equal measures.
I really enjoyed this novel and I highly recommend it. I would give this book 5 stars.
Kim and Kathy Hodges are sisters placed on seemingly different life paths. From the start, Kim is beautiful and smart; Kathy is plain and beset with disabilities. But these convenient characteristics don't show the whole story—what is in someone's heart and what makes someone a good person. As they grow up in their middle-class family, Kim resents the extra attention her sister receives from her parents and declares that her sister chokes the life out of her. It's a cruel observation and one that doesn't change for Kim, even as she grows into an adult. Her feelings for her sister calcify, even after her own traumas with sexual assault leave her unwilling to give or accept love in a healthy way. Both sisters have their own baggage to carry, but Kathy moves through life undeterred by the disabilities God gave her, or road blocks put in her way by life.
Sisters of the Undertow is a realistic depiction of sibling dynamics and the frustration that comes when siblings are very different from each other. Kim and Kathy are different not only in their outwardly appearances, but their internal makeup as well. They are opposites in every way. Despite Kathy's disabilities, she has an unerring positivity and strong faith in God that irks Kim to no end. Kim's prickly demeanor gets thornier as she grows older, and her pessimism frustrates her sister Kathy. Readers will wish for Kim's deliverance by growth and wisdom to become a better person, but she will test readers' patience as well. She is a difficult character to cheer for, mostly because she rarely feels empathy for her sister or parents. As a librarian in Houston, she befriends several patrons who are homeless, and she does find some sympathy to care for them—even gives them gift cards for McDonald's—but mostly at arm's length. This sympathy does not extend to her sister, or even a guy she seems to reluctantly date, the affable Wayne, or Wayne-O as his friends like to call him. Once Hurricane Harvey encroaches on Houston, Kim's weak allegiances to her sister and boyfriend are tested, leading readers to wonder if Kim will find it in her heart to care for the ones who have suffered through her bitterness. It's a tough pill to swallow: her callousness towards the ones who love her.
The frustration that comes with following Kim's life, her relationship with her sister, and the wall she builds around her is also felt by many who watch the loved ones in their lives erect similar emotional walls. Bernhard does an excellent job of displaying the sibling dynamics that frustrate many brothers and sisters alike and often leaves them wondering: How did we come from the same mother? After reading this book, the more important question for siblings to ask is: How can we support each other better, even when it's the most difficult to do?
This novel is a realistic depiction of a sibling relationship and I would give it 4 stars.
Valleyesque by Fernando A. Flores is a book of short stories that are psychedelic, satirical, and surreal. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “No one captures the border–its history and imagination, its danger, contradiction, and redemption–like Fernando A. Flores, whose stories reimagine and reinterpret the region's existence with peerless style. In his immersive, uncanny borderland, things are never what they seem: a world where the sun is both rising and setting, and where conniving possums efficiently take over an entire town and rewrite its history. The stories in Valleyesque dance between the fantastical and the hyperreal with dexterous, often hilarious flair. Swinging between satire and surrealism, grief and joy, Valleyesque is a boundary- and border-pushing collection from a one-of-a-kind stylist and voice. With the visceral imagination that made his debut novel, Tears of the Trufflepig, a cult classic, Flores brings his vision of the border to life–and beyond.”
Flores' follow-up to his surreal novel Tears of the Trufflepig is the short story collection Valleyesque. These stories are all surreal, trippy, and some are quite funny. Sort of a mashup of Márquez, Burroughs, and Bukowski (these are high level comparisons), trying to pin down Flores' actual style is difficult as it is wholly unique: the ultimate compliment for a writer. Many of the stories take place in the small towns of the Rio Grande Valley, but some are also set in what seems like Austin, Texas. The stories are filled with beautiful similes and metaphors which often transform into the actual settings of the stories; Flores does this beautifully and seamlessly. Some of my favorite stories are: The Science Fair Protest, Nocturne from a World Concave, The 29th of April, Nostradamus Baby, Ropa Usada, and my favorite You Got It, Take It Away. These stories are highly imaginative and utterly entertaining, my favorite book of Flores' so far. If there is one negative of this book, then it is that it is too short. I could have lived in the world of these stories a little longer.
I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it. I would give this book 5 stars.
The comedic adventures of Leeds Merriweather continue! Fleeing the Georgian oppression of the United Kingdom for the ramshackle colonies of 18th century America, Merriweather trades in his life as a successful news patterer for one of a news reporter and printer of broadsheets, joining forces with a rebellious prostitute during the tenuous time leading up to the American Revolution. Adventure and hilarity ensue as the pair fight the good fight, possibly sparking romance while the revolutionary bullets fly around them. Brill's comedic flair and assured writing make for page-turning fun in this historical romp, his keen eye skewering media organizations both then and now. Will Merriweather's cover be blown as the anonymous printer of the scandalous newspaper titled the Watertown Times-Forger? WTF indeed! This sequel to The Patterer is sure to please lovers of comedies and historical fiction as well as romance fanatics.
I received an Advance Reader's Copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I highly recommend this novel.
Fantastic! When I was studying literature at UT, I did not read this book. What a shame! Enthralling story that is very well-written with an almost unbelievably horrific premise. I became emotionally invested in Northup's journey. With the exception of a few dated story-telling techniques, I really, really enjoyed this book.
Trust Me is the debut suspense thriller from Richard Z. Santos with dueling stories of two men affected by the discovery of a mysterious skeleton on a construction site in New Mexico. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “Charles O'Connell is riding an epic losing streak. An unexpected offer to work in Santa Fe, New Mexico, doing public relations for a firm building the city's new airport feels like an opportunity to start fresh and make connections with powerful people out west. But when the construction crew unearths a skeleton, Charles' fresh start turns into another disaster. Gabriel Luna, one of the laborers present when the skeleton is unearthed, is willing to do just about anything to reconnect with his teenage son. Surrounded by deception on all fronts, including his own lies to himself and his wife, Charles falls into a whirlwind of fraud, betrayal and double crosses.”
The parallel stories involving Charles and Gabriel are both initiated with the surprise discovery of a mysterious skeleton at the construction site (maybe it's the legendary Geronimo?), but Gabriel's more compelling storyline has real stakes to sink your teeth into. It's hard not to root for a guy who wants and tries to be a good father, even when life continually beats him down. He tries his best with the limited options he has even though most of those options are unmistakably bad choices. Charles, on the other hand, is just another rat on the corrupt vessel of Cody Branch's duplicitous city “project.” It's hard to feel sorry for him when he's almost just as corrupt as the people he works for.
It takes a while for Santos' story to rev up. But once it does—as the double-crosses and backstabbing decisions come flying almost two thirds of the way in as well as Gabriel's descent down his hard road to redemption—it's a hard story to put down. The two stories never really intersect, but their parallel paths have a compelling contrast. Santos is an author to watch. Let's all hope we see his next novel very soon.
I enjoyed this book and I recommend it. I would give this novel 4 stars.
With its inventive structure and deep emotional core, Walker's A Burst of Gray is a stunning bit of micro sci-fi bliss, where our soulmates reveal their colorful selves in our not-so-distant, monochromatic future. A thought-provoking and engrossing read!
Beautiful hi-res photos of an actual Fantastic Four #1 comic book including advertisements in full-size as well as page by page analysis and zoomed-in photos of panels. Amazing! Highly recommended for Marvel Comic Book fans.
Mixed Company by Jenny Shank is a short story collection that is the winner of the 2020 George Garrett Fiction Prize. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “In Mixed Company Jenny Shank reveals moments of grace and connection between people of her hometown, Denver, through stories that contrast the city during its oil-bust era of economic troubles and court-ordered crosstown busing for racial desegregation with the burgeoning and gentrifying city of recent years. Characters find their initial perceptions and ideas overturned in these stories laced with humor, heart, and grit. Jenny Shank forges fiction out of the sparks that fly when diverse people encounter one another.”
This is a heartfelt, and often funny, collection of excellent short stories, a worthy selection for the George Garrett Fiction Prize. These fine stories standout: “L'homme de ma vie,” “Casa del Ray,” “Sexycana,” and “Local Honey.” Many of the stories feature diverse characters trying to love each other, or eventually clash with each other. Shank is a confident writer in both first- and third-person, but the first-person narrators sound especially assured. Most of the stories unfold in Denver, Colorado, a quirky setting in Shank's hands, where these diverse characters are forced to contend with one another. Sometimes it works out; many times it doesn't. But Shank is a worthy literary tour guide of this bustling melting pot near the Rocky Mountains.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it. I would give this book 5 stars.
Twentymile by C. Matthew Smith is a thrilling novel of suspense with literary undertones. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “When wildlife biologist Alex Lowe is found dead inside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, it looks on the surface like a suicide. But Tsula Walker, Special Agent with the National Park Service's Investigative Services Branch and a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, isn't so sure. Tsula's investigation will lead her deep into the park and face-to-face with a group of lethal men on a mission to reclaim a historic homestead. The encounter will irretrievably alter the lives of all involved and leave Tsula fighting for survival—not only from those who would do her harm, but from a looming winter storm that could prove just as deadly.”
Tsula Walker is an engaging protagonist who juggles a stressful work life with a complicated personal life. On the job, she chases poachers and land squatters. In her personal life, her mother is invested in the discovery of a sacred ancestral site of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians even though she suffers from the effects of terminal cancer. Tsula wants to stay on top of both, but antagonist Harlan Miles complicates her life. Harlan, his two sons, and a friend have reclaimed a cabin deep in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park that once belonged to his great grandfather, but was believed to have been taken by the US Government as part of the national park a century before. When Harlan and his clan are discovered, they're not giving up this “homestead” without a fight, leading to deadly results.
Smith is an assured writer in his debut novel, weaving thrilling and suspenseful results with literary flourishes. When I expected some of the more plot-driven aspects of the novel to veer into cliché, Smith expertly steers the plot towards realism, leaning into his knowledge of hiking and backcountry camping. Smith can also turn a phrase beautifully, and offers poetic descriptions of the wooded setting as a reprieve from tense action. Most thrilling was the ending, serving up a juicy twist to the cause that Harlan used to reclaim this backcountry property as his own. This is an engrossing adventure with a deeply satisfying conclusion. Bravo!
I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it. I would give this book 5 stars.
Sparrow by Brian Kindall is a wondrous middle-grade novel of literary fiction with magical realism. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “Timothy Sperling misses his mom and dad terribly. Left behind with his morose uncle while they're off on an expedition to avert an environmental crisis, the bird-boned boy would give anything to see them again. But when he spies a shooting star, instead of wishing to be reunited with his parents, he falters and asks for snow... only to conjure up a blizzard that won't quit! As a town that never sees winter is buried in mountains of white, Timothy teams up with a wise explorer to figure out how to stop the relentless frozen flakes. And with all the blame being shoveled on his family, the clever kid's connection to sparrows may be his one chance to pull the city out of its deep freeze. Can Timothy undo his fateful wish and bring back the sunshine?”
Timothy Sperling is a wide-eyed and frail boy, so slight that he's like a bird. Appropriately nicknamed Sparrow, he gazes out of his bedroom window, dreaming of somehow reconnecting with his parents. His errant wish upon a falling star unleashes a blizzard on the town of Candela, the likes of which has never been seen before. Not even his miserly Uncle Morris the Morose believes it's snowing, even though the flakes are falling in plain sight. Can Sparrow undo what he has wished for and save his town?
Brian Kindall tells this wonderful tale with beautiful prose, allowing Timothy's wide-eyed observations and exclamations of awe to fill the reader with astonishment. There is a nod toward classic literature in the narration and setting, along with a modern concern for the environment and the creatures that inhabit it. Sparrow occupies a space somewhere between Charles Dickens and Roald Dahl, and I can't think of a more beautiful tale for middle-graders to immerse themselves in. On top of this, the cover is a work of art, a befitting case for a wonderful story.
I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it for middle-grade readers of all ages. I would give this book 5 stars.
Hannah and Ariela by Johnnie Bernhard is a novel of suspense about two women living very different lives that are brought together by tragedy. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “When Hannah, a seventy-three-year-old widow, finds the semiconscious body of a fourteen-year-old Mexican national in a ditch along a remote central Texas road, she has no idea someone is watching. Not until the girl's brutal attacker arrives at Hannah's door in the middle of the night, threatening not just the girl's but Hannah's very survival. Ultimately the question of justice for a victim of human trafficking and the woman who helps her lies in the hands of a biracial border patrol officer and an unconventional small-town sheriff. The I-10 corridor of Texas connects saints, demons, and victims as the ultimate question of life and death is decided by two strangers fate has bound together. They must make a hard choice in order to survive: either follow the law or follow their consciences.”
Johnny Bernhard returns with her fourth novel, a book of suspense and a family drama about two women living very different lives, one in Texas and one in Mexico, brought together by tragedy. Bernhard's strength is showing the lives of both women, the relationships with their family members, and their lives in their communities. Hannah is a recent widow who desperately misses her husband and struggles to keep their ranch in order. Ariela dreams of going to the US and living a new, very different life. When Ariela is kidnapped by a sadistic trafficker, she finds herself living a nightmare and eventually ends up in a ditch on the side of the road where Hannah finds her. Bernhardt effectively shows the lives of both women and their relationship which grows through their common painful experiences, although the suspenseful elements of the novel could have been ratcheted up a little more. Ultimately, this is an affecting literary novel revealing a modern tragedy that is all too common in the southern border states of America.
I enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it. I would give this novel 4 and 1/2 stars.
The Unlounging is Funny–Really Funny
This humorous novel is one I had one of my eyes on (the curious fun-loving eye) for a few months. It's an indie book that received starred reviews from both BlueInk Review and Kirkus Reviews, even landing on the Kirkus “Best Books of 2018” indie list. Color me impressed. Although, my other more cynical eye was skeptical, and here's why. Usually for me, if someone says a novel is very funny or laugh out loud, then it isn't. For me. I know that humor and what is considered funny is subjective and very different for everyone. But I rarely find books declared hysterical to actually be hysterical—until now. The Unlounging is funny—really funny. I burst out laughing often while reading it and—let me tell you, folks—that means something to me. It really does.
Selraybob—the main character and the author of this book—peaked in stature and popularity back in high school as a football tackle. Glory days now gone, his wife Joalene leaves his lazy ass in a plume of dust on his lounger, where he drinks beer and becomes perplexed by two out-of-sync clocks in his rundown house. He ruminates about Time, which propels his low life to new places: a job at the library (so he can read all about Time), local clock shops employed with conspiracy theorists, a road trip with his friend Herm and Herm's wife Susy Liu Anne to the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Boulder, Colorado to see the atomic clock, and so much more. He also befriends a chubby high-schooler to help him get in shape for the football team, pines for a sexy, clock shop employee who seems to understand his fascination with Time like no one else in his life, and attempts to befriend the mangy mutt who barks all day down the street. This collision of couch philosophizing and easy-going storytelling is a surefire recipe for fun. I was chuckling, laughing, then cheering for Sel's exploits to pan out (his friends call him Sel for short).
There is an easy-goingness to Sel's storytelling that is fascinating and endearing. His ruminations about Time are interesting in that he seeks the simplest explanation possible—even creating an internal feud with Stephen Hawking and Albert Einstein, two loonies whose explanations of Time are too complicated—and his kindheartedness endears the reader to him, making his penchant for oafishness easy to overlook. Sel the author puts a master-class on display for character development; Sel the main character is full-blooded and alive with pathos, humor, insightfulness, and humility. If there was one weakness in this novel, it's this: the plot is simply an armful of months in the life of Selraybob; Sel grows in wisdom through the duration of the story but the stakes and obstacles in his life aren't much higher than the hill he trudges up with Carl the wannabe footballer. But what a fun armful of months we readers get to experience.
So, I will now make the declaration I hate: to me, this novel is laugh-out-loud funny. But I will offer this further explanation to help coax your comedic sensibility. If you could imagine Kurt Vonnegut's sensibility filtered through Mark Twain's Southern-style congeniality, then you will find the place where this novel's humor lives. If you could watch The Dude from The Big Lebowski ruminate for hours about the mysteries in his life, then this novel is for you. The Unlounging fosters the absurd, the philosophical pondering, the beer-drinking, the classic car fixing, and the shit-talking yet loyal friendships we all yearn for in one fun novel.
Go buy this book right now! You'll be glad you did. And if you don't, well... then, Selraybob won't mind. He'll still be counting Time with a cold quart of beer in his hand whether you read his book or not. Thank God for that. It's rare for me to feel sadness when a novel ends, but that's how I felt when I turned to the last page. I didn't want my time with Selraybob to end. I think I'll go grab a beer and ruminate some more about it.
This novel of literary fiction is a ribald and adventurous mixture of humor, magical realism, Old West historical fact, and dream-like self-reflection. It's quite difficult to categorize this book. But author Brian Kindall skillfully unspools a literary tale worth reading. There's a reason it was selected as a Finalist for Literary Fiction in the 2015 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards.
Didier Rain—the unruly yet kind protagonist—is hired to deliver a baby named Virtue to a Mormon prophet, who has been chosen as his future bride. (!!!) Rain's proclivities for alcohol and sex are dashed when he is instructed to not partake in these dalliences during the long trip. He is accompanied by two horses—Brownie and Puck—and a helpful goat that remains sadly unnamed. At first, the animals are imagined by Rain to speak, but then are gradually personified into full-blown characters. Virtue miraculously grows into a young woman during the trip, this unusually magical transformation rendered as a normal occurrence. The group enlists an abandoned Native American woman named Turtle Dove and encounter a variety of miscreants and curious onlookers during their trek. Rains exploits are both comical and unexpected. His proclivity to give into his unrelenting carnal desires or poetic indulgences reveals to his thoughtful introspection, which is mined more fruitfully with his backstory.
The narration is pitch-perfect to the period of the 1850s while Rain's observations, inquisitiveness, and creative indulgences are mesmerizing. He quickly grows close to Virtue the baby while he cares for her on the rough trip as well as to his animal cohorts, which endears him to the reader. I found myself laughing out loud a few times at the predicaments Rain fumbles into and wasn't surprised at the magical elements that liberally occurred throughout, as Brian Kindall masterfully revealed these elements in the most seemingly natural of ways. As Rain reveals his past to his cohorts as well as to the reader, his cynicism becomes justified. He has an unsavory past, yet his abhorrent history gives way to his loving care for the young woman Virtue as well as the animals under his watch.
Go buy this book right now! You'll be glad you did. Highly recommended! The sequel to this novel, Fortuna and the Scapegrace, is on my to-read list.
Ron Seybold mines his memories of the prickly relationship with his father to excavate nuggets of wisdom for his own relationship with his son. Baseball is the shared language he uses to mend familial wounds from a divorce. Evocative and masterfully written, Stealing Home is a winner.
Daykeeper is novel about a widower who struggles with the loss of his wife to cancer and his relationship with a student at the university where he works. It's a contemplative story about life after the death of his loving spouse, particularly with the ensuing guilt of betraying their previous life and home together, which takes an unexpected turn when he becomes entwined with the inevitable lust for life with a woman half his age. This novel was the winner of the 2019 Indie Author of the Year Award (Indie Author Project).
The story is told as a brisque yet lyrical first-person narrative with Kwansaba poetry sprinkled throughout. I was deeply affected by the contemplation of living a life after a very loving spouse dies too soon from cancer, and Ed's struggle to continue without the love and support of his wife. The Kwansaba poetry does most of the heavy lifting to communicate the mournful distress Ed feels, then later in the novel turns passionate and yearnful for his new girlfriend. And the funny interactions between Ed and his older brother helped to lighten the mood whenever the story veered toward more maudlin territory.
My only criticism would be that there was an opportunity to explore Ed's grief in more detail, offering a fuller picture of why he was wracked with so much guilt for finding a new girlfriend. There were brief passages about his wife's budding career as a singer and pleasant car rides they took together while enjoying each others' company. But when Ed senses a familiarity with Tanya as pertaining to his deceased wife, there wasn't much offered in the way to prove that besides the two women coincidentally liking the same novel and both women exuding a certain amount of confidence. That's where the Kwansaba poetry contributed much-needed emotional resonance to the story, adding the depth and feeling that Ed wasn't otherwise explaining in his narration.
An insightful exploration into grief and passion for life renewed. I would give this novel four and a half stars.
Excellent collection of interviews with writers spanning the 1990s to present. Insightful questions with long-form answers, many spanning into conversation. Notable interviews: Paolo Bacigalupi, Elizabeth Crook, Jennifer Egan, Mark Haber, and Emily St. John Mandel. A handsomely designed book. A must-read for authors and readers alike!
This indie novel caught my eye on Reedsy. It received a glowing review there and it also has an eye-catching cover, so I thought I'd give it a go. It's described as “a family-centered mystery that discusses addiction, mental illness, and parental relationships.” I was intrigued.
This story about a single mother, Marcella, and her two sons—Tyler and Henry—is a well-plotted story about a fatal struggle that the younger son witnesses late at night that leaves a neighbor—elderly Ms. Sally—dead. The older brother is thrown in jail, as he is accused of killing Ms. Sally, who also happened to be the family caretaker and friend to mother Marcella. The town contains plenty of shady characters as well as Ms. Sally's son, Bernie, who is a kind yet unassuming handyman.
Spero does an excellent job of plotting this intriguing story with a large cast of characters from a small Adirondack town. There are some genuine surprises as the mystery unfolds and the relationship between the mother and her sons is realistic and affectionately portrayed.
I did have a couple of issues with the book and they were quite glaring. One: the story is told in close third person and this unknown narrator takes on the view point of the focal character in each chapter, going so far as to use the terms of endearment the character would use for his / her parent and loved ones as well as slang or emotional state of the character. I found myself wishing that each chapter was told in first person instead, allowing the characters to speak for themselves. I feel first person narration would have added an additional layer of mystique to the plot. But instead, we get a somewhat creepy narrator who, for example, calls the boy's mother Marcella in some chapters and Ma in other chapters. It was confusing and distracting throughout the entire novel. The neighbor was called Ms. Sally in some chapters by the narrator and Mom in others. Huh?
Two: Spero could have used a really good line editor to help rework some awkward phrasing and word choices. For instance, there were dozens of references to stomachs performing flips and undulations, like this:
“His stomach flip-flopped... His stomach churned... His stomach betrayed him... His stomach turned... His stomach settled... Her stomach dropped... Ty's stomach heaved... Her stomach went wiggly... Hen's stomach lurched... Hen's stomach went fuzzy... His stomach got all twisty...”
An excellent line editor would have noticed this, as I did, and helped clean up these awkward redundancies. However, the novel was edited for misspellings and grammatical errors, because there were none, and the layout of the book was excellent and well-organized.
Ultimately, the story was well told and the concluding chapter—which featured the tense criminal trial of Tyler—and the epilogue—which wrapped up all the loose ends—was deeply affecting and thought-provoking. As a whole, this novel was very good, just not exceptional. I will keep an eye out for Spero's next novel. My only hope would be that she find an editor that help elevate the narrative text to the high level of her storytelling.
I would give this novel 3.5 stars.
Tell Me One Thing by Kerri Schlottman is a novel of literary fiction. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “Outside a rural Pennsylvania motel, nine-year-old Lulu smokes a cigarette while sitting on the lap of a trucker. Recent art grad Quinn is passing through town and captures it. The photograph, later titled “Lulu & the Trucker,” launches Quinn's career, escalating her from a starving artist to a renowned photographer. In a parallel life, Lulu fights to survive a volatile home, growing up too quickly in an environment wrought with drug abuse and her mother's prostitution. Decades later, when Quinn has a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of Art and “Lulu & the Trucker” has sold at auction for a record-breaking amount, Lulu is surprised to find the troubling image of her young self in the newspaper. She attends an artist talk for the exhibition with one question in mind for Quinn: Why didn't you help me all those years ago? Tell Me One Thing is a portrait of two Americas, examining power, privilege, and the sacrifices one is willing to make to succeed. Traveling through the 1980s to present day, it delves into New York City's free-for-all grittiness while exposing a neglected slice of the struggling rust belt.”
Quinn Bradford eventually becomes successful as a photographer, but she can't seem to shake the knowledge that maybe she could have helped Lulu instead of photographing her. As Lulu grows into an adult, she often wonders herself why Quinn didn't do something to help her. This novel explores both women's lives that splinter from the moment Quinn snaps the Polaroid of 10-year old Lulu sitting uncomfortably on a trucker's lap while she holds a cigarette, his grubby hands wrapped around her waist. Both women struggle in their own way: Lulu within the drug-addled community of her childhood and Quinn living the life of a poor artist who many take advantage of. They both live long lives filled with loss and love, but only Quinn rises above poverty to become famous.
Schlottman deploys a dual timeline for both women and their lives are depicted with pathos and levity, the grim nature of poverty revealed as well as the joy of finding souls who bond through love and suffering. Once the photo of “Lulu and the Trucker” is taken and both of their lives are revealed separately, this one question remains: how will their two timelines come back together? There is an obvious way that they could merge, but Schlottman wisely avoids this tactic. The ending seems to me to be well-earned and true, a fitting end to a fantastic novel. Keep an eye out for Kerri Schlottman. She has a great literary career ahead of her.
I really enjoyed this novel and I highly recommend it. I would give this book 5 stars.
I saw great reviews for Arnold Falls on book review services like BlueInk Review and Reedsy Discovery and thought I'd give this novel a try. The last few books I read were great but heavy, so a comedic novel sounded just about right. Arnold Falls is a funny book, for sure.
From the publisher: Spend time in the funny, oddball village of Arnold Falls, where larger-than-life characters deal with the smallest of problems. Somehow, it all comes out right in the end. Arnold Falls is a novel that tips its hat to Armistead Maupin and P. G. Wodehouse, creating a world in which food, music, friendship, love, and tending your own garden are connected in surprising ways.
Main character Jeebie is the glue between all the characters. He's a voice over artist who moved to Arnold Falls with his boyfriend, but the boyfriend quickly departs and leaves Jeebie behind. Jeebie finds himself in a number of community hijinks and misadventures, all amusing.
But the town itself really is the main character. The narration of the novel is brisk and charming. The dialog between the townsfolk is amusing and rapid fire, a bit like a TV comedy show firing on all cylinders ala Parks and Recreation mixed with Northern Exposure. There isn't a lot of exposition to bog down the whimsical story. Many hilarious tidbits about Arnold Fall's history is told, like the origin of the quirky holiday Hail Pail Day or the mostly unaltered interior of The Chicken Shack, the longstanding diner and favorite town hangout.
Unfortunately, once the litany of characters are introduced, there isn't a lot of character descriptions either as the story barrels on. So when many characters are introduced later, only their dialog or actions describe them, but none of their physical characteristics or mannerisms are given. For instance, when Jeebie's parents meet him and Nelle for dinner at Pumphrey's, no physical descriptions of the parents are given at all. The only thing said is the mother likes to paint (she's talented) and the father still thinks he's an ad exec from the 1950s (but he's a decent guy). Are they thin or plump? Tall or short? Nervous or confident? Well-dressed or shlubs? Who knows.
This lack of character description is an unfortunate oversight in an otherwise funny and endearing ensemble piece. I'm keeping my eye out for Suisman's next novel. I'd give this novel 4 out of 5 stars.
This is the most beautiful and lovingly compiled collection of the first twenty issues of The Amazing Spider-Man as well as his first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15. Excellent essays and historical information. Although pricey, it's a massive book (not kidding, it's MASSIVE) well-worth the investment if you are a Spider-Man fan and a Stan Lee / Steve Ditko fan.
Above all, one of my favorite features of this compilation is that the pages from the actual comic books are scanned in all their high-resolution glory including the advertisements. So, unlike Marvel Masterworks compilations of these issues which were recolored and without the ads, you get to read the entire comic books in this compilation as they originally were published with the ads and the color dots and the printing errors and all. They're glorious! The covers are on glossy paper and the interior pages are on a heavy-duty newsprint. I can't say enough about this book. Magnificent job, Taschen!