For a sample of this twenty-year U.S. Army and Iraq war veteran's stellar prose, hop over to David Abrams' book blog The Quivering Pen. It's truly a pleasure to visit because it's written by a writer who clearly strives to entertain and enthrall with every sentence. His features live up to their intriguing titles ("My First Time" and "Trailer Park Tuesday" are a couple of my favorites), plus he gets it right in his recommendations, every time. Truly: Try this blog - after just one taste you'll likely weave it into your regular interweb destinations.
Fobbit, David's first novel, draws upon his own experiences as a military journalist and a FOBbit, a "soldier in Iraq that rarely if ever leaves the relative safety of the Forward Operating Base (FOB)".
Praised by the likes of Thom McGuane and Darin Strauss, this "next great American war novel" strides forward in the tradition of Catch 22, and promises to challenge our civilian perceptions of modern military life with both gritty realism and perfectly poised dark comedy.
David's stories have appeared in Esquire and Narrative magazines, among others, so that may offer you an additional barometer of what to expect from both his blog and his upcoming novel.
For a brief excerpt from Fobbit, hop over to Grove/Atlantic's Fobbit page, and then take a quick tour through David's "National Short Story Month" offerings on The Quivering Pen - you'll find well-chosen recommendations plus some insider tips for short story writers amid the treasure-trove of features he reliably provides for us.
MFB with baited breath while awaiting my copy,
L
p.s. Just in case you're wondering, I offer this recommendation carrot-free (and stickless too, for that matter); Mr. Abrams and his publishers don't know that I planned to write this post. I simply enjoy David's blog and truly look forward to his novel, so much so that I wanted to share both with you.
3 comments:
This sounds so good! It's funny--I almost skimmed right past this in my Blogger roll and then I noticed that it was you who posted it.
Wow, thanks so much for pimping my husband's blog! He works very hard on it. Much appreciated!
Emily - Glad I actually got the chance to introduce you to a new author: Who'da thunk it?
Jean - Thanks for hopping by, and it was my pleasure to let others' know of your husband's work. On the flip side, I wish you hadn't put it quite as you did, as this is an all-ages blog and your choice of verb carries some pretty negative connotations that make me uncomfortable as well. I would have deleted your comment, but I did want to let you know, as I figured you just didn't realize how it might come across.
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