Kill Me Now, by local author Timmy Reed, is the journal of a skateboarder named Miles Lover kept over the summer between 8th grade and high school. Miles has divorced parents who live on opposite ends of Roland Park, younger twin sisters, and no friends — though he does see a fair bit of his pot dealer, whom he calls the Beaster Bunny. Midway through the summer, he develops a relationship with an old guy from the neighborhood named Mister Reese, along with his health aide, Diamontay, and their giant boa constrictor, Tickles.
Tag: fiction
Q&A with Baltimore Writer Timmy Reed, Author of ‘Kill Me Now’
Baltimore Writers Club #6: Madison Smartt Bell’s Behind the Moon
I’m sitting here trying to recover from reading Madison Smartt Bell’s new novel, which is quite unlike most anything else (except previous books by MSB – I’d recognize the ferocity of the prose style anywhere). I’m a little shaken, I’m spent, and I truly feel like I have been Somewhere Else.
Literary Heavyweight Junot Díaz to Speak at Hopkins
Acclaimed Dominican-American novelist Junot Díaz is coming to Shriver Hall in Homewood this week.
Summer Reading Picks from The Ivy Bookshop
The Ivy Bookshop is your home for summer reading! Whether you’re reading on assignment or for pleasure, the Ivy Bookshop is sure to have what you need.
UMBC Professor Wins “Bad Sex Writing” Award
Manil Suri is a professor of mathematics at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. He’s also a novelist who writes about nuclear physics, the politics of India/Pakistan, and, apparently, bad sex. Or, put more accurately, bad writing about good sex; Suri is this year’s winer of the Literary Review’s “Bad Sex in Fiction” prize for his novel The City of Devi.
Here’s the passage the judges singled out:
Complicated Knots: An Interview with Justin Kramon
Justin Kramon is as unpredictable as he is sweet. In his debut novel, Finny, a tender coming-of-age story, Kramon showed great sensitivity in portraying female characters, particularly the title character, Finny, a fiery young redhead from Baltimore. So why did Kramon decide to make his follow-up novel, The Preservationist, a thriller? Jen Michalski, host of Starts Here! (the new Ivy Bookshop reading series held at Artifact Coffee), interviewed Kramon about the surprising evils that lurk in the hearts of his characters. Look for her new Prologue lit column monthly at Baltimore Fishbowl. And take note: Kramon reads at the Ivy, Tuesday, October 22 at 7 p.m.–visit the store’s website for more information.
Jen Michalski: In both your novels, Finny and now The Preservationist, there’s a strong female protagonist and an equally strong and engaging coming-of-age story. The twist in The Preservationist, however, is the introduction of a serial killer. As someone who I consider one of the most sensitive writers on the planet, where did *that* come from?
Justin Kramon: Thanks for the kind words about the novel. In kindergarten, the teacher once told me I was “sensitive,” and I got very upset. I think I cried, thereby proving her theory. I don’t cry anymore when people call me sensitive, but I do occasionally wet myself.
“Hunt for Red October” Author Tom Clancy, Dead at 66
The Baltimore Sun is reporting that Baltimorean and Loyola Blakefield alum Tom Clancy, who wrote several bestselling thrillers that became huge movie blockbusters and inspired video games, died yesterday at Johns Hopkins Hospital after a brief illness. He was 66.
National Book Award Winner Norman Rush Tonight at the Ivy Bookshop
Join National Book Award winner Norman Rush tonight at 7 p.m. at The Ivy Bookshop when he comes to discuss Subtle Bodies, his first in a decade. (Read the New York Times recent profile of Rush, here.)
About the Book
In Subtle Bodies, Norman Rush, author of three immensely praised and award-winning books set in Africa, including the bestselling classic Mating, returns home, giving a sophisticated, often comical, romp through the particular joys and tribulations of marriage and the dilemmas of friendship, as a group of college friends reunites in upstate New York twenty-some years after graduation. When Douglas, the ringleader of a clique of self-styled wits of “superior sensibility,” dies suddenly, his four remaining friends are summoned to his luxe estate high in the Catskills to memorialize his life and mourn his passing. Ned, our hero, flies in from San Francisco, pursued by his furious wife, Nina: they’re at a critical point in their attempt to get Nina pregnant, and she’s ovulating! It is Nina who gives us a pointed, irreverent commentary as the friends begin to catch up with one another. She is not above poking fun at some of their past exploits and the things they held dear, and she’s particularly hard on the departed Douglas, who she thinks undervalued her Ned. Ned is trying manfully to discern what it was that made this clutch of souls his friends to begin with and, simultaneously, to guess at what will come next.
About the Author
Norman Rush is the author of three previous works of fiction: Whites, Mating (for which he won the National Book Award) and Mortals. His stories have appeared in The New Yorker, The Paris Review and Best American Short Stories. Rush and his wife live in Rockland County, New York.
Norman Rush will appear at The Ivy Bookshop, 6080 Falls Road, tonight at 7 p.m. For more information, visit The Ivy Bookshop website.
Event of the Day: Random House Reps at The Ivy
Wednesday, May 15th, 2013
7:00pm | FREE!
The Ivy Bookshop
6080 Falls Road
Baltimore
Book club members and book lovers are invited (and urged!) to attend this opportunity to learn about the new season of Random House books. We went to this event in the fall and it was outstanding. If you love learning about the latest book, you wont want to miss it.
Meet The Ivys Random House representatives Wednesday, May 15 at 7 p.m. as they showcase books youll be eager to select as your next book club choices. Get a sneak preview of the hottest books of the upcoming season. Although the event caters to book club coordinators and members, all readers are welcome.
Let The Ivy Bookshop help your book club find its next great book. Visit The Ivys Book Clubs page to see what other clubs are reading, and to learn about the many benefits of registering your book club at The Ivy.
The Reader’s Guide to Life, Starting with a Parade, Ending with a Funeral
University of Baltimore Asst. Prof. and Bohemian Rhapsody Columnist Marion Winik comes to understand why she’s addicted to reading fiction — her motivation may surprise you.
On the sidewalk of St. Charles Avenue in New Orleans sat a girl in a low folding beach chair. Dragged by her mother to the Mardi Gras parade, she insisted on bringing her book. No matter how people teased or tried to distract her, she calmly read the whole time, even as glittery throws and oversized go-cups landed in her lap.
