The novel begins with Matty Telemachus and his inappropriate thoughts about his cousin Mary Alice. When he discovers that he is able to travel outside of his body, he begins searching for more answers about the Amazing Telemachus Family, their history in show business, and the shady business dealings of his uncle and grandfather. Matty begins going through old family tapes to learn more about his grandmother, Maureen. Although other family members rebuff him, Matty continues.
The family patriarch, Teddy Telemachus, becomes involved with Graciella Pusateri, the wife of a notorious local mobster on trial for murder. Teddy's son, Frankie, is deeply in debt to the mob, and the two grow more entangled as the novel progresses. Teddy also becomes dangerously enamored with Graciella despite her much younger age.
Spoonbenders: A novel download
The novel alternates between the past and present of the various characters, including the meeting and early relationship between Teddy and Maureen before her eventual death. Each character's extensive background provides motivations for their present actions.
Buddy Telemachus, a slightly unhinged psychic spends the entire novel preparing for the mysterious Zap, the day he will lose his psychic powers, although he does not know this until the very end of the novel. He sacrifices his abilities and his health for his family, an ultimate act of selflessness.
The titles covered in this column, and several other notable titles arriving next week, are listed with ordering information and alternate formats, on our downloadable spreadsheet, EarlyWord New Title Radar, Week of June 5, 2017
Before his death, Crichton was a fixture on the charts and four of his novels hit the #1 spot on the USA Today list, including Disclosure, The Lost World, Airframe, and Prey. (Their list began in 1993, thus missing some of his other hits). An earlier posthumous novel, Pirate Latitudes, peaked at #9.
Click on the titles to download or request digital galleys. If you fall in love with any of these titles, remember to nominate them for LibraryReads. Deadlines for those still eligible are noted in red.
Another regular contributor to GalleyChat, Janet Lockhart, collection development librarian from Wake County Public Libraries, endorses two novels set in the Appalachians in her home state of North Carolina. Both appear to be book group perfection.
The titles covered in this column, and several other notable titles arriving next week, are listed with ordering information and alternate formats, on our downloadable spreadsheet, EarlyWord New Title Radar, Week of May 29, 2017
This 1951 novel is perfect for fans of The Leftovers and other stories that explore what post-apocalyptic life is like for those left behind. In an instant, everything changes for the people of The Disappearance: men vanish from the world of women, and women from the world of men. Suddenly living in separate timelines, unaware of what has happened to their friends, parents, lovers, and children, men and women must learn to forget the gender roles prescribed to them by the society of the old world. In The Disappearance, Wylie explores gender issues and the institutionalized sexism of his time, issues which unfortunately are still relevant nearly 70 years after this addition to the post-apocalyptic genre was published.
This two-novel series by Octavia E. Butler opens with The Parable of the Sower, which offers a vision of the post-apocalypse that is terrifying in its plausibility. Book one begins in near-future dystopian Los Angeles, seen through the eyes of Lauren Olamina, a hyper-empathic teenager. When the gated compound her family hides in is destroyed by marauders, Lauren leads a group of survivors across the wreckage of California. Along the way, she helps her companions come to terms with the new world via the teachings of Earthseed, a belief system she has created around the central tenet that God Is Change.
This 2015 Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning novel is as scary as it is unforgettable. Spanning across North America, but centering specifically around the Great Lakes region, it charts the impact of the devastating Georgia Flu. 20 years after the pandemic, Kirsten Raymonde is part of a troupe of nomadic performers known as the Traveling Symphony who tour the remnants of society, putting on plays.
When the troupe comes across a predatory figure known as the Prophet, they get a brutal reminder that not all survivors are trying to remember the good in humanity. Weaving stories from before the flu and after into an unforgettable exploration of what it means to hope and to seek happiness, Station Eleven is one of the greatest post-apocalyptic novels in recent years. A TV show adaptation starring Mackenzie Davis as Kirsten is currently in production at HBO Max, so now is the perfect time to read this modern classic. 2ff7e9595c
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