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JONAH MAN

Christopher Narozny Chris Narozny

Patrick deWitt meets No Country for Old Men. This is dark and literary and very "sex, drugs and rock 'n roll"!

A vaudeville juggler who moonlights as a drug mule; a prodigious young talent raised in the brothel where his father played piano; an Inspector whose methodical manner results in a series of critical missteps JONAH MAN is the story of impact. It's a story of murder, arson, flight, and pursuit; every character struggles to find their own redemption. With each page the reader becomes increasingly immersed in a violent and distinctly American solitude. Christopher Narozny has studied at the Université de Tours, France, and taught English in Bayeux and Paris. His fiction has appeared in the American Literary Review, the Denver Quarterly, and elimae. In 2002, he won the Peter Neagoe Prize for Fiction. Narozny earned an M.F.A. from Syracuse University, where he studied with George Saunders, Mary Gaitskill, Mary Caponegro, Brian Evenson, and Gary Lutz. He is currently finishing his Ph.D. at the University of Denver, where he teaches literature and creative writing, and studies with authors Laird Hunt, Selah Saterstrom, and Brian Kiteley.

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Book Published 2012-05-01 by ig publishing

Comments

"Jonah Man is a vivid and unsettling portrait of naked American ambition, and Chris Narozny is a nimble and unflinching writer."

This strong first novel deserves a wide audience. It’s the story of men whose ambition outran their talent, and of the boy who seized his chance.

"A sort of charismatic bastard child of No Country for Old Men and The Grifters, Jonah Man is a riveting, suspenseful look at the grittier side of early 20th century vaudeville. Beautifully and tautly written, this is an extraordinarily successful first novel."

What can we learn from exceptionally talented orphans, one-handed, moonlighting jugglers, and inspectors who proceed by the light of accidents? A great deal indeed. In the enigmatic language of vaudeville, Jonah Man posits readers at the crossroads with an invitation to consider the gaps between who we have been and who we might, still, become. A remarkable achievement, this book is a dream. And like all powerful dreams, it has the power to wake you."

"As compelling as it is atmospheric, Jonah Man is above all mercilessly readable. This is the kind of storytelling that keeps you flipping pages against your will deep into the wee hours. Narzony writes like an insider. His prose are lean, mean and razor sharp."

Narozny draws an intriguing literary debut from the unexpected milieu of yucks and pratfalls, “browsers” and “sleeper jumps” of 20th-century vaudeville... The story unfolds believably, albeit with a subtle shadow of near surrealism. An original and promising literary debut.

"Pay attention to Narozny"

A classic whodunit ripe with spare, snappy prose and riddled with period language, this is one show-stopper that deserves a standing ovation.