launched

Today was the official date of publication for Auggie's Revenge, so thanks so much if you celebrated by picking up a few copies at your favorite online e-tailer of books. Also, this afternoon I was reminded that Fight for Your Long Day would get consideration in a special issue focused on the academic novel for the American, British, and Canadian Studies Journal (the official journal of the Academic Anglophone Society of Romania, based at Lucian Blaga University in Sibiu, Romania).

my review of Single Stroke Seven

Necessary Fiction published my poignant review of Lavinia Ludlow's Single Stroke Seven.

#AWP16

For #AWP16, from Thursday, 3 p.m. through Saturday, I'll try my best to be at the Beating Windward Table, #1664 in the far back corner of the book fair. I'll have signed copies of both Auggie's Revenge and the Classroom Edition of Fight for Your Long Day at discounted prices, and please do inquire about obtaining an ARC if you're interested in reviewing either book.

back on tour

next time, with new books

Cyrus among the socialists

is enjoying the irony of being called "Kundera" by the socialists (typo in review, not at top) https://t.co/vTmTdHTDhL

— Alex Kudera (@kudera) March 23, 2016

In fact, the review is also incorrect in that the word "union" does appear in the novel. It's in a section where Cyrus Duffleman remembers learning from a picketing restaurant worker that a unionized hotel bartender had been earning significantly more per hour to pour drinks than he'd been earning to teach college classes. The recollection doesn't quench Duffy's thirst.

eat well and take care

Amy Long's essay, "Mom, I'm Taking Opiates Again, I'm Fine" partly resonates with me because I'm headed to Los Angeles at the end of the month and thinking about my father sobering up there in the 1980s in Marina Del Rey. He once said after an AA meeting back in West Philly, "Their stories are so depressing that I never would have stayed sober if I'd tried to quit drinking back east."