Joann Davis: The Book of the Shepherd
978-0061732300 – Hardcover – HarperCollins – $19.99
The Book of the Shepherd: The Story of One Simple Prayer and How it Changed the World is a beautifully written parable that made me think of writers like Paulo Coelho and Kahlil Gibran. The conceit of the book is that the author finds a manuscript in a house in Vermont, and has it translated, thus this story. It’s a short book, and an easy read, but of course, because it is a parable, the book demands to be re-read and thought about deeply.
The story has no distinct place or time. Joshua is the shepherd who is troubled by the code of “an eye for an eye” that governs his world. He has a dream about “a new way” and sets off on a quest to find it.
Stone the builder who erects a house that falls on its occupants. Sever the hands of the criminal who pilfers livestock or grain or another’s garment. Whip the child who defies an elder. For such is the law and the law must be obeyed.
For generations, these ironclad rules had governed the people. Nobody questioned whether it was right to humiliate a child or execute a murderer. An eye for an eye was the way of the world.
But was there another way?
Joshua is accompanied by Elizabeth, a former slave who is kind and generous, and David, a boy who must learn to walk in new shoes. Joshua believes that “an age of miracles” will come when the new way is found.
As with any quest, there is adventure along the way. En route to a cave near the Great Inland Sea, the travelers meet a number of interesting and compelling characters, including the Storyteller, the Apothecary, the Blind Man, and the Stranger. Each passes on an important lesson as the travelers journey toward what we realize is their destiny. At the cave, Joshua must see if he can bring forth secrets long buried. But he, Elizabeth, and David will discover that what they have been searching for has been inside them all along. In the end, The Book of the Shepherd is compelling and meaningful, whatever your political, social or religious outlook or beliefs. It’s not heavy handed or preachy, and even for many secularists, will be well worth the investment of time to read.
Joann Davis is an experienced writer and former book editor. She is extremely articulate and passionate about her work, and was a pleasure to interview. We talked about her work as a writer, her own spirituality, and how The Book of the Shepherd can change people and the world for good.
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Summer Brenner: I-5, A Novel of Crime, Transport, and Sex
978-1-60486-019-1 – Paperback – PM Press – $15.95
This is a slim novel that packs a pretty powerful punch. Summer Brenner was best known to me as a poet, but it turns out she has been writing fiction for quite some time. She has a political interest, as this novel demonstrates, but it is not a tract. It’s a sensitive portrayal of an Eastern European woman who has been tricked into coming to America, where she has been enslaved in a money for sex ring that makes a business out of the correlation between the desires of women to escape the misery of their lives and men who are willing to pay for sex of all kinds with women, whose real lives they care nothing about.
As the story of I-5 unfolds, Anya, the main character, is traveling the interstate corridor up central California from Los Angeles to Oakland; adventures ensue, some of them strange, some of them desperate, all of them painful and sad. Still, Brenner’s characters matter, she is sympathetic to all of them as human beings, even the worst exploiters in the crew. That makes this novel much more than a book about sex, money, power and violence; in Brenner’s hands, these characters transcend their typologies to become real people trapped in their individual gulags. She writes visually, so that with a relatively few words, we can see what she wants us to see, the places her characters inhabit, and even their interior worlds. It’s gut wrenching book, but our faith in the ability of people to overcome the obstacles between themselves and their humanity is never lost.
This is really a terrific book; yes, the cover makes it look like a trashy paperback from the 50s, but done in a modern enough way that there is no mistaking it for anything exploitative. I-5 is a hardboiled story, and it is as noir as any book you will read, but it’s a transformative experience to read and one that should not be missed. In my interview with Summer, we talked quite a bit about the how she came to write this book, and many of the issues of sexual slavery in America and worldwide today. She expresses a deep emotional connection with the characters in her novel, based on her own experiences as a woman. Her abilities to imagine her characters and their stories is remarkable. Summer Brenner is a writer more people should know, and one who important things to say.
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James A. Owen: Here, There be Dragons
978-1416912279 – Hardcover – Simon & Schuster – $17.95 (a paperback edition is also available – but the price difference is small enough for me to recommend you buy the hardcover)
James A. Owen is a wonderful writer. It’s interesting to me how many really excellent writers there are who are categorized as “young adult” writers because the books they write are about things like dragons, or boys who are heroes or even young wizards in an imaginary school in an imaginary part of England. In my opinion anyway, Here, There be Dragons is a book for readers of all ages or any age. It’s well written, has characters with depth, beautifully done line drawings by the author, and a fast moving, engaging story line that includes heroes who are connected to our literary history in some very interesting ways. What more can one ask for in a novel?
“What is it?” John asked.
The little man blinked and arched an eyebrow.
“It is the world, my boy,” he said. “All the world, in ink and blood, vellum and parchment, leather and hide. It is the world, and it is yours to save or lose.”
An unusual murder brings together three strangers, John, Jack, and Charles, on a rainy night in London during the first World War. An eccentric little man called Bert tells them that they are now the caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica — an atlas of all the lands that have ever existed in myth and legend, fable and fairy tale. These lands, Bert claims, can be traveled to in his ship the Indigo Dragon, one of only seven vessels that is able to cross the Frontier between worlds into the Archipelago of Dreams.
Pursued by strange and terrifying creatures, the companions flee London aboard the Dragonship. Traveling to the very realm of the imagination itself, they must learn to overcome their fears and trust in one another if they are to defeat the dark forces that threaten the destiny of two worlds. And in the process, they will share a great adventure filled with clues that lead readers to the surprise revelation of the legendary storytellers these men will one day become.
It’s a pretty good bet that if you like this book, you will be pleased to know you can continue to read. This is the first volume in the Chronicles of Imaginarium Geographica series, which has now reached a total of four books, with more to come. It’s probably true that this book and its series will appeal most to a certain type of reader, one who has read and enjoyed adventure stories, particularly those well written classics of the past (again, I don’t think it’s about the age of the reader but rather one’s interests). Unlikely heroes, normal people faced with challenges to which they rise, mythological characters brought to life, and above all, dragons, definitely motivate some of us more than others. I guess I am one of those.
I had the pleasure of meeting James A. Owen at Comicon in San Diego. I was impressed to see a writer so willing to engage with his readers – Comicon can be exhausting for exhibitors and for creators even more so. In this interview, he displays his engaging personality, and talks with me about the origin of his work as a novelist, his work in comics, contacts with film makers (the film adaptation is in development and appears scheduled as a 2011 release), and his attempt to revive the classic magazine, Argosy. Owen started as a comic book writer and illustrator, and even was a publisher of comics, and then moved into writing novels almost accidentally. This is a lucky turn of events for readers of fiction. You can learn much more about James A. Owen and his work at this website and he also has a beautiful blog based site, the Wonder Cabinet, that is well worth regular visits. I’m hopeful that over time, Owen’s work will reach the wider audience it deserves.
Note to listeners: this interview is slightly longer than most at 27 minutes, but should provide sufficient interest to reward your investment of time.
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P.W. Catanese – Happenstance Found (The Books of Umber Series)
June 23, 2009 by David
Filed under Children's Authors, Fiction
978-1416975199 – Hardcover
Aladdin (Simon & Schuster) $16.99
P.W. Catanese is the author of a number of books for children and young adults who lives in Connecticut. In this podcast, Writerscast host David Wilk interviews Catanese, who talks in detail about his life as a writer, his earlier series of fairy tale retellings for younger readers, and his latest novel, the excellent Happenstance Found, which is the first in a new series he has created called The Books of Umber. The novel opens with Happenstance, a strange boy of undetermined age, waking up in a cave with no memories of who he is or anything about the fantastic world in which he lives. He soon encounters Lord Umber, an adventurer who seems familiar with our world as well as his own, and his two companions — a brute cursed to be forever truthful and a one-handed artist and archer… As the group attempts to learn about his origins, they’re forced to confront a supernatural assassin and secrets from Umber’s own mysterious past. The world Catanese creates in this novel is highly compelling; his new series should appeal both to adults who love a good fantasy and to the younger readers to whom it is aimed.
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Kwei Quartey – The Wife of the Gods
978-1400067596 (Hardcover)
Random House $24.00
Dr. Kwei Quartey is medical doctor, born in Ghana and raised by an African American mother and a Ghanian father. He has lived and practiced medicine in California (where he is the lead physician for an urgent care clinic) for a number of years; he wanted to be a writer since he was a young boy and writes in the morning before going to work. Writerscast host David Wilk interviewed Kwei during a recent visit to New York where he was appearing at Book Expo America. Dr. Quartey talks about his writing, the background for his new novel, a complicated and beautifully written mystery set in contemporary Ghana. Wilk and Quartey explore many aspects of the writing life as it has emerged for this first time novelist. Wife of the Gods is an impressive debut by a new talent, and as the first in a series based on his compelling main character, Inspector Darko Dawson. This interview should be an equally compelling introduction to the author and his work for many readers.
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Arthur Phillips – The Song is You – Part 2 of a 2 Part Interview
9781400066469 (hardcover)
Random House, $25.00
Writerscast host David Wilk continues his interview with Arthur Phillips, acclaimed author of Prague, The Egyptologist and Angelica. Phillips was born and raised in Minnesota, educated at Harvard, and now lives in Brooklyn, the setting for his newest novel The Song is You. It is a beautifully written, complicated, sometimes painful, often extremely funny and very modern novel. Music is a critical underpinning of the story, and the complexity of the relationship between listener and performer is deeply entwined with the unusual love story that is at the heart of the novel. Phillips is widely considered one of the best novelists writing today – and The Song is You is solid evidence of how good he really is. Kate Christensen’s New York Times review says it best: “the whole novel zings with fresh insight and inspired writing. “The Song Is You” is smaller, more focused and more character-driven than Phillips’s earlier books, and it’s not only a welcome new direction, but also a novel impossible to put down.”
In this second segment of a lively and revealing two part interview with Writerscast host David Wilk, Phillips continues to discuss his newest book, and how he wrote it, the role of music in the novel, what he is working on next and explores some of the interesting and interior elements of the novel and his life as a writer.
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