Monday 14 January 2019

2 BY STONA FITCH

A couple this week from US novelist Stona Fitch. Deja-vous another author who sits in the burgeoning book collection but has never been read.






















Senseless, at a guess has sat ignored for at least ten years, Give + Take a lot less, seeing as I can't recall buying it new. Fitch has another couple of novels to his name, which if I'm honest don't hold any great appeal for me at all - Strategies for Success and Printer's Devil.

His two most recent book are Boston based crime novels published under the pseudonym of Rory Flynn - Third Rail and Dark Horse - much more my cup of tea.

From Fantastic Fiction website...... Stona lives with his family in Concord, Massachusetts, where he is also a committed community activist. He and his family work with Gaining Ground, a non-profit farm that grows 30,000 pounds of organic produce each growing season and distributes it for free to Boston-area homeless shelters, food pantries, and meal programs.





Senseless (2001)

American economist, Eliott Gast is a man who treasures the finest things that life can offer - fine food, a good bottle of wine, beautiful music. Until the day that he is abducted in Europe by a shadowy and extremist anti-globalisation group. Eliott is held hostage for forty days, and each moment of his incarceration is broadcast on the internet. His captors inform him that his eventual release depends on the votes - and donations made to their cause - of the millions of people who are watching this most disturbing of reality shows. As Eliott battles to understand why he has been chosen, he unearths sins both small and large. Over the course of his captivity, Eliott is deprived of each of his senses, one by one - deprived of everything except the choice of whether or not to survive.








Give + Take (2010)

An unholy marriage of the classic American road narrative combined with the slyest moments of Thomas Pynchon, Give + Take is one part caper, one part social satire. Disillusioned after years of conspicuous consumption, jazz pianist Ross Clifton has become a talented thief, robbing from the rich to give to the poor. But when his teenage nephew, Cray, turns up to join him, his life on the road is turned upside down. Between his nephew's criminal aspirations and Ross' romance with an enigmatic singer, his grifter lifestyle is about to be in serious jeopardy.

Fast, furious, and felonious, Give + Take races along to a thrilling climax.

14 comments:

  1. Give + Take sounds interesting, Col. Sometimes those 'road' stories can be really effective. I'll be interested in what you think of that one.

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    1. I do like a good road trip Margot, especially when things don't go to a plan!

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  2. These look interesting, but it's the author's Printer's Devil that I'm off to investigate . . .

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    1. Actually the premise of that one may tickle your fancy...

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  3. Give + Take sounds interesting, Senseless doesn't sound like my kind of book. I will wait and see what you think about them.

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    1. When I get there.... if ever. His Rory Flynn output might be more your cup of tea, Tracy

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  4. Col, I have books lying ignored and neglected for two decades. Of course, I mean no disrespect to their writers. GIVE + TAKE mirrors a new trend of unusual and imaginative titles.

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    1. I know the feeling. GIVE + TAKE is a great title - agreed.

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  5. Col – If Give+Take is satire + caper + road novel + jazz, then it sounds like a real plus. (Oooooooo – did I really say that?) I think I’ll check out this one. Thanks.

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    1. Haha - I'll be keen to hear what you think, Elgin

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  6. OK, definitely interesting-sounding. We need you to read them and give us a bit more info!

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  7. Big fan of crime/road novels. The Carrier by Preston Lang is a great example. I'll check out Give + Take.

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    1. The Carrier was superb, Larry. One of my favourite books from Lang. I hope Give + Take works out well for you.

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