"David Madden has been around the block a time or two (this is his
13th work of fiction), yet he always has a new trick up his
sleeve--in this case, a set of four novellas starring one Lucius
Hutchfield, a character who might make you think of someone out of
Faulkner or Walker Percy or even Melville's Confidence Man, the
kind of hero our mothers warned us against, knowing that we wanted
nothing more than to be him. As always, Madden is both wise and
winking here. Some people say life's the thing, but David Madden
reminds us that art is always the better choice."-- David Kirby,
author of Get Up, Please
"I could continuously cite inventions, details, and felt
connections that I admire in this collection of four extraordinary
novellas. 'Only connect, ' E. M. Forster says. There are no
unconnected elements in this gathering of tales--Madden seamlessly
weaves insight, imagination, implication, inflection, and
innuendo."--Allen Wier"David Madden has long since joined the
pantheon of great fiction writers, but in Marble Goddesses and
Mortal Flesh, he has outdone himself. By turns hilariously funny
and tenderly romantic, his young narrator Lucius Hatfield astounds
the reader with both his fearlessness and intelligence, making him
unforgettable, and one of the more original and endearing
characters ever to grace Southern literature, Indeed, I suspect
Marble Goddesses and Mortal Flesh will find itself on many readers'
shelves of favorite books as it has on mine, and will be picked up
and reread time and time again."--Rosemary Daniell, author of Fatal
Flowers: On Sin, Sex and Suicide in the Deep South, and seven other
books of poetry and prose
"In his thirteenth book, David Madden returns to Lucius Hutchfield,
protagonist of Bijou, his early masterpiece, and one of the most
unforgettable characters I've had the pleasure to meet in fiction.
Over the course of these novellas, Madden delivers four distinct
episodes from Lucius's life, spanning late youth to middle age.
Marble Goddesses and Mortal Flesh is equal parts comic,
heartbreaking, suspenseful, meditative, erotic, romantic,
nostalgic, always rich in character and sense of place and
masterfully rendered end to end. Just read it. You'll see what I
mean." --Michael Knight, author of The Typist: A Novel "Marble
Goddesses Mortal Flesh is a magical blend of memoir and fiction,
new and older stories, an exciting epitome of David Madden's whole
career as a narrative writer. We know Madden has had a lifelong
love affair with movies and movies stars. For him the romance of
the screen is an inspiration for life itself, and for the fictive
imagination, along with his lusty memories of growing up in
Knoxville, his service in the Merchant Marine, out-conning con men,
braiding together tall tales and vivid realism, outrageous comedy,
and pursuing the ghost of Jesse James in the North Carolina
mountains. Madden is a master Appalachian storyteller, and these
four novellas may be his finest work yet." --Robert Morgan, author
of Chasing the North Star "I've always admired David Madden's work
for its keen music and instinct for time and place. These new
stories will add and strengthen his reputation as an observer of
the enigmatic and the legendary." --Phil Schultz, Pulitzer
Prize-winning poet for Failure "Marble Goddesses and Mortal Flesh,
David Madden's collection of four linked novellas, is a singular
achievement. With the chiseled, nuanced sentences, and marvelous
invention we've come to expect of him, Madden creates, in Lucius
Hutchfield, the narrator of all four tales, a most memorable tour
guide. Madden's mastery of the novella, an often misapprehended and
elusive form, is complete - and here I league him with the writers
whose craft and precision in the novella I most admire: Katherine
Anne Porter, Alan Sillitoe, Jim Harrison and Glenway Wescott."
--Joseph Bathanti, Author of The Life of the World to Come and
North Carolina Poet Laureate (2012-2014)
|
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
