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KATHARINE LEE BATES by Melinda Ponder Launches Today!

How I loved this splendid biography!  Melinda Ponder brings Katharine Lee Bates to life as never before. And what a fascinating, remarkable woman she was – so much more important in the history and literature of our country than I had realized.”

–Doris Kearns Goodwin, Pulitzer Prize historian

 Katharine Lee Bates’s “America the Beautiful” resonates for many people as the most patriotic and beloved American anthem. Her words remind us of why we love our country: the beauty of our land, the historic sacrifices of our people, and our ideals of hope and brotherhood. That has never been more important than today.

Drawing on extensive research in Bates family diaries, letters, and memoirs, biographer Melinda M. Ponder brings Katharine vividly to life in her new biography that launches today, KATHARINE LEE BATES: From Sea to Shining Sea (Windy City Publishers Hardcover; August 12, 2017; $39.95).

Early reviews are extremely positive:

Finally, a full portrait of the wise and witty woman who wrote the words that best express our love for America. Melinda Ponder’s rich narrative is a timely reminder that intellect, integrity and a rigorous respect for truth are the real pillars of patriotism.” –Lynn Sherr, former ABC News correspondent and author of America the Beautiful: The Stirring True Story Behind America’s Favorite Song

“We all know ‘America the Beautiful,’ but only now do we learn the fascinating story of the woman who wrote it–along with so much more. This book is a stirring tribute to a brilliant and deeply patriotic American whose message we need to hear today.” —Stephen Kinzer, historian and author of The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire

“…[A] carefully researched and thoroughly entrancing life tale of a brilliant and accomplished woman whose many achievements have too long been eclipsed by the enduring success of America the Beautiful. … Ponder wisely sets this triumph in the context of a full and richly lived life.” –Megan Marshall, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Margaret Fuller: A New American Life and Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast 

“Melinda Ponder’s … beautifully written biography presents Katharine Lee Bates as, in her time, a ‘New Woman.’ Readers will find that this life story of a beloved poet, patriot, and social reformer has much to say about our own time.” –The Falmouth Enterprise 

“Katharine Lee Bates: From Sea to Shining Sea unfolds at long last the impressive life story and strikingly variegated career of the author of America’s unofficial national anthem. A limit-bumping thinker ahead of her time, sometimes even at odds with it, Katharine Lee Bates also had a remarkable gift for reaching the broader American public.” — Lawrence Buell, Harvard University, author of New England Literary Culture and The Dream of the Great American Novel

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Jerome Charyn’s New Novel About Jerzy Kosinksi is Getting a lot of Attention

Critically acclaimed author, Jerome Charyn is getting a lot of attention for his new novel, JERZY that is just out from Bellevue Literary Press.

In JERZY, Jerome Charyn lends his unmistakable style to this most American story of personal disintegration, told through the voices of multiple narrators—a homicidal actor, a dominatrix, and Joseph Stalin’s daughter—who each provide insights into the shifting facets of Kosinski’s personality. The story unfolds like a Russian nesting doll, eventually revealing the lost child beneath layers of trauma, while touching on the nature of authenticity, the atrocities of WWII, the allure of sadomasochism, and the fickleness of celebrity.

Ruth Franklin wrote this great review and fascinating article for The New Yorker in which she describes the book as “a moving attempt to trace the connections between Kosinski’s wartime struggles and postwar fictions.

Benjamin Markovits in his review for The New York Times Book Review writes that JERZY is “a novel with a light touch that’s still capable of lifting heavy subjects. Charyn knows what he wants to do and knows how to do it.”

And JERZY was included in Jane Ciabattari’s 5 Books Making News This Week column for LitHub for the week of April 4th.

If you are looking for an intriguing and engaging book to read this Spring, add JERZY by Jerome Charyn to your list. This reader’s guide will also help make it an excellent choice for your next book club selection.

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EXILE ON BRIDGE STREET receives rave reviews from Irish and mainstream press

EXILE_BRIDGE_STREET_Eamon_LoingsighWe’ve been fans of Eamon Loingsigh’s writing for some time now. We had the privilege to work on his debut novel, LIGHT OF THE DIDDICOY, and now we’re excited to be helping to spread the word regarding his new work, EXILE ON BRIDGE STREET.

 

Reviews are starting to come in, and the Irish press, indy press — ALL the press — are loving this new novel. Check out  what they have to say:

 

“In his beautiful, passionate prose, Loingsigh — an Irishman himself — continually reminds us of the motherland and the suffering of Irish emigrants. . . . EXILE ON BRIDGE STREET is a gangster story that reads more like “Robin Hood” than The Godfather because of these men’s inner strength and the love they have for each other. . . .
It’s also an intimate look at criminals whose lives have been hardened by oppression and weathered by storms, while inside their rough shells they hide soft hearts.”
—Washington Independent Review of Books

 

“When accomplished Irish American writers address the lives and experiences of the early 20th century Irish in New York they are recording, but also in a deeper sense also reclaiming a lost heritage. This is painstaking work that’s worth celebrating in its own right, but then to give us a vivid portrait of these flinty people in all their complexity and courage is a thing to cheer about. EXILE ON BRIDGE STREET, author Eamon Loingsigh’s new novel, is a follow up to Light of the Diddicoy, and it’s a high wire act of creativity and reclamation that deserves the widest possible audience.”
 —Irish Central“

 

Loingsigh has an urgent story to tell. And he tells it well. This is a street-level history of how the other half has always lived, the kind of story rarely worried over in classrooms or political campaigns. Loingsigh’s great strength is his unsentimental take on the immigrant experience which—despite the rancor of today’s debate—often acquires a sepia tone when it is discussed in the past tense. EXILE ON BRIDGE STREET should be required reading for those who rail about how today’s immigrants “refuse to assimilate.”
–Brooklyn Rail

 

[EXILE ON BRIDGE STREET], a follow-up to his previous gripping novel The Light of the Diddicoy, is set on the rough-and-tumble streets in the shadow of the Manhattan Bridge, where Irish and Italian immigrants fight fiercely for control of the docks and all the jobs and money that comes with that control…On the surface, Loingsigh’s book mines Brooklyn’s gory and glorious Irish past.  But it is also the quintessential read for 21st century Brooklyn. Not only is it all too plausible that Liam McGarrity’s grandchildren are cops of firefighters living in Marine Park.  But consider all of those immigrants coming into Brooklyn these days. Love? Death? Money? Struggles in the homeland? Surely they can relate to a thing or two Liam had to endure as he was becoming an American in Brooklyn. 
—Irish Voice

 

More reviews to come soon!

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Reviewers Love CRIME PLUS MUSIC!

CRIME PLUS MUSIC: Twenty Stories of Music-Themed Noir is a fantastic new collection edited by novelist and Wall Street Journal rock and pop music critic, Jim Fusilli (Three Rooms Press). The book is a collection of darkly intense, music-related noir stories by world-renowned mystery authors, including: Craig Johnson (The Cold Dish), David Liss (A Conspiracy of Paper), Val McDermid (The Mermaids Singing), Gary Phillips (The Darker Mask), and Alison Gaylin (Hide Your Eyes), plus notable authors from the world of pop music including Galadrielle Allman (Please Be With Me: A Song for My Father, Duane Allman), Willy Vlautin (singer/songwriter of indie band Richmond Fontaine), and more.

The Washington Post says, “There’s plenty here to chew on for fans of rock-and-roll and crime fiction.”

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Other reviewers are loving CRIME PLUS MUSIC as well:

“Fusilli’s music-themed anthology rocks with superb solos from a number of big-name mystery writers and others who deserve to be better known. . . . Splendid compilation.” – PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

“ Hits the mark . . . superb collection!” —LIBRARY JOURNAL

“ A strong lineup of talent . . . hilarious . . . raw . . . exciting!” —A LA BOOKLIST

“ The music behind the stories in this volume ranges from country to rock to pop to contemporary electronic dance music to (get this!) bagpipes . . . The stories are little gems.” —DEADLY PLEASURES

“ The lineup of authors is impressive . . . and crime of every form playing alongside music of every form is a great idea!” —BOOKLOONS

“ This short story collection could fill an Award shortlist all on its own. . . . Don’t-miss new writings from some of your favorite crime fiction authors— as well as some well-known folks from the music industry.” — BOLO BOOKS

“ In the hands of these modern masters of mystery fiction, CRIME PLUS MUSIC exposes the nasty side of the world of popular music, revealing it to be the perfect setting for noir.” — THE BOOK REPORTER

CRIME PLUS MUSIC exposes the nasty side of the world of popular music, revealing it to be the perfect setting for noir.

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Fantastic Early Reviews for This Way to the End Times!

If you’re a fan of science fiction, you won’t want to miss THIS WAY TO THE END TIMES: Classic Tales of the Apocalypse edited by Robert Silverberg, one of science-fiction’s most beloved writers.  This collection of 21 gripping stories about the not-too-distant demise of the earth as we know it, will be out on October 25, 2016 from Three Rooms Press.

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And what a collection! From rare classic tales by science-fiction legends Jules Vernes and Olaf Stapledon, intense works by Grand Masters Connie Willis, Jack Vance, Ursula K. Le Guin and Brian W. Aldiss, to haunting stories by contemporary authors Dale Bailey, Karen Haber, Alvaro Zinos-Amaro, and Megan Arkenberg, THIS WAY TO THE END TIMES paves the road to the fantastical future, alternating humor with grit, and hope with ghastly post-apocalyptic visions.

Early reviews from the book trade publications have been fantastic!

Booklist gave it a starred review and says, “With its range of contributors, this is a much needed volume that will both satisfy the high demand for apocalyptic tales and remind readers of the actual breadth and depth of this literature of the end of the world.”

Publishers Weekly also gave it a starred review and says, “These stunning stories contemplate survival while question whether life is worth saving.”

And Kirkus Reviews says “the variety of ways in which these stories choose to end the world offers a great deal—nightmarish, funny, lonely, or hopeful—for the imagination. Wonderfully written, surprisingly varied apocalyptic tales”

Add THIS WAY TO THE END TIMES to your Fall must-read list.  You can pre-order on Amazon today!

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