
Name the Boy (Dan River Press, 2007) is a collection of stories about fathers and sons written in the vein of Hemingway if he had been raised on a lobster boat in New England. The author is Shawn Kerivan, the enigmatic college professor and Stowe innkeeper. If you enjoy Shawn's book, you may thank him by forwarding a bottle of Irish whiskey direct to the Auberge de Stowe, c/o the author.
Matthew Quick's debut novel, The Silver Linings Playbook (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2008), is a brilliantly paced and deftly gentle black comedy about Pat Peoples' struggle to avoid facing the dark, terrifying repressed memories of a terrible event that sent him spiraling into madness. Matt''s book is currently under option with The Weinstein Company and has been adapted for a feature film by writer/director David O. Russell (Three Kings, I Heart Huckabees) and will star Anne Hathaway. Also, check out Matt's terrific follow-up book for young adult readers, Sorta Like a Rock Star. And then check out his wife, Alicia Bessette's, debut novel, Simply from Scratch. They are a dynamic writing duo, indeed.
And Kiara Brinkman's debut novel, Up High In the Trees (Grove Press, 2008), is a beautifully written, first-person story told by a boy with Asperger's Syndrome.