Archaic Torso, Novelist

Started by Archaic Torso of Apollo, September 26, 2021, 06:56:40 AM

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Archaic Torso of Apollo

My novel Abandon All Hope - part workplace satire, part novel of ideas, part Chicago urban/suburban novel – has just been published by Auctus Publishers, a Philadelphia-based small press.

Why post about it here? Because the story contains a lot of musical references, both classical and non-classical. (Hey, there probably aren't a lot of novels which use the word Klangfarbenmelodie.)

Here's a blogpost I wrote to introduce the book:

https://swspires.weebly.com/blog/behind-abandon-all-hope

Here are the Amazon and B&N links:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1736827820?pf_rd_r=8H2YKEQ84E7J8E476KVG&pf_rd_p=8fe9b1d0-f378-4356-8bb8-cada7525eadd&pd_rd_r=649210be-580e-4718-865f-0f6781060276&pd_rd_w=Q8qJS&pd_rd_wg=ntBGT&ref_=pd_gw_unk

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/abandon-all-hope-scott-spires/1140194144?ean=9781736827826

(I've been informed that the Kindle and Nook versions will be up in early October, so those links are not yet complete. Ah, the joys of product roll-out!)
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

Pohjolas Daughter

Congrats on your new "baby"!

And may the sales go through the roof!

PD

Karl Henning

Quote from: Pohjolas Daughter on September 26, 2021, 08:39:25 AM
Congrats on your new "baby"!

And may the sales go through the roof!

PD

+ 1
I'm in for the Kindle edition!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

(poco) Sforzando

"I don't know what sforzando means, though it clearly means something."

Jo498

Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on September 26, 2021, 06:56:40 AM
My novel Abandon All Hope - part workplace satire, part novel of ideas, part Chicago urban/suburban novel – has just been published by Auctus Publishers, a Philadelphia-based small press.

Why post about it here? Because the story contains a lot of musical references, both classical and non-classical. (Hey, there probably aren't a lot of novels which use the word Klangfarbenmelodie.)
Congratulations! But I hope you have embedded this ironically not to you appear utterly pretentious with such words.
Tout le malheur des hommes vient d'une seule chose, qui est de ne savoir pas demeurer en repos, dans une chambre.
- Blaise Pascal

Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: Jo498 on September 26, 2021, 11:15:07 PM
I hope you have embedded this ironically not to you appear utterly pretentious with such words.

You'll have to read it to find out!
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

Karl Henning

Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Iota

Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on September 26, 2021, 06:56:40 AM
My novel Abandon All Hope - part workplace satire, part novel of ideas, part Chicago urban/suburban novel – has just been published by Auctus Publishers, a Philadelphia-based small press.

Congratulations!

Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on September 26, 2021, 06:56:40 AMWhy post about it here? Because the story contains a lot of musical references, both classical and non-classical. (Hey, there probably aren't a lot of novels which use the word Klangfarbenmelodie.)

Can't swear to it, but the excellent Orfeo by Richard Powers is in with a strong chance. I've never read a novel with anything like the amount of knowledgeable musical analysis he weaves into the story.


Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: k a rl h e nn i ng on September 26, 2021, 10:49:23 AM
+ 1
I'm in for the Kindle edition!

The Kindle edition is now up, at the above Amazon link (with the usual "Look Inside" function, so you can decide if you want to continue).
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

Karl Henning

Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on October 10, 2021, 09:42:58 AM
The Kindle edition is now up, at the above Amazon link (with the usual "Look Inside" function, so you can decide if you want to continue).

Much enjoyed the first chapter. Will certainly continue!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Archaic Torso of Apollo

I got a great endorsement! Joshua Cohen is one of America's foremost young novelists (check out his latest book The Netanyahus, it's creating quite a buzz). He's now provided a blurb for my book, which you can see on the Amazon page, but I'll reproduce it here:

"Future humans will almost surely elide the brief interregnum between the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of the Internet, but then nobody ever much respected the 1990s -- and the 1990s never much cared. Scott Spires did, however -- and, belying all hackneyed notions of slackerdom, wrote this heartfelt and headstrong book, a masterly novel of how it felt to have friends, love, and work in the last decade that could ever be lost, when time was not to be managed but wasted, and irony was not a pose but a mode of compassion."

Here's hoping reviews will start appearing soon. Hey, I'm working on it...
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

Karl Henning

Congrats! More success to you!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

T. D.

Congratulations and best wishes!
Read the "Look Inside" pages on Amazon and enjoyed the work, will check out the whole book.
I grew up in the Chicago area, and the realistic portrayal brought back a lot of memories! (For instance, I really miss the Chicago Reader, fantastic paper)

Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: T. D. on October 19, 2021, 07:25:26 PM
Congratulations and best wishes!
Read the "Look Inside" pages on Amazon and enjoyed the work, will check out the whole book.
I grew up in the Chicago area, and the realistic portrayal brought back a lot of memories! (For instance, I really miss the Chicago Reader, fantastic paper)

Thanks! I actually wrote an article for the Reader once - on the subject of New Urbanism, which is a topic that influenced me while I was writing the book.
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

Pohjolas Daughter

Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on October 19, 2021, 06:43:43 PM
I got a great endorsement! Joshua Cohen is one of America's foremost young novelists (check out his latest book The Netanyahus, it's creating quite a buzz). He's now provided a blurb for my book, which you can see on the Amazon page, but I'll reproduce it here:

"Future humans will almost surely elide the brief interregnum between the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of the Internet, but then nobody ever much respected the 1990s -- and the 1990s never much cared. Scott Spires did, however -- and, belying all hackneyed notions of slackerdom, wrote this heartfelt and headstrong book, a masterly novel of how it felt to have friends, love, and work in the last decade that could ever be lost, when time was not to be managed but wasted, and irony was not a pose but a mode of compassion."

Here's hoping reviews will start appearing soon. Hey, I'm working on it...
Excellent!  Fingers crossed for you.

PD

Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on October 20, 2021, 05:53:53 AM
Thanks! I actually wrote an article for the Reader once - on the subject of New Urbanism, which is a topic that influenced me while I was writing the book.

I was in California in December, and thanks to a personal connection was able to get interviewed on the LA-based radio show Environmental Directions, where I talk about urbanism, environmentalism, and how they relate to my book. If you've got half an hour to kill, you can listen to it here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1pTSyAPHhLn3CjFULtvgO1aRwKdvmRUB6/view

Basically, this is me trying to sound like an expert on urbanism and environmentalism, even though I'm not - I'm just a guy who's traveled and read a lot. But I did get to talk about the book quite a bit.
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

vandermolen

"Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm" (Churchill).

'The test of a work of art is, in the end, our affection for it, not our ability to explain why it is good' (Stanley Kubrick).

Spotted Horses

I looked at the Amazon link and saw a name that I seem to remember from the distant past on a vaguely remembered classical music forum, before it was considered too dangerous to use a real name.

Archaic Torso of Apollo

Quote from: Spotted Horses on February 09, 2022, 06:10:29 AM
I looked at the Amazon link and saw a name that I seem to remember from the distant past on a vaguely remembered classical music forum, before it was considered too dangerous to use a real name.

It's funny (or sinister?) how people used to mostly use their real names on forums like this, and now mostly use pseudonyms.
formerly VELIMIR (before that, Spitvalve)

"Who knows not strict counterpoint, lives and dies an ignoramus" - CPE Bach

Spotted Horses

Quote from: Archaic Torso of Apollo on February 09, 2022, 09:48:48 AM
It's funny (or sinister?) how people used to mostly use their real names on forums like this, and now mostly use pseudonyms.

Yes, and I can't imagine what possessed my parents to name me "Spotted." :)