| Vendor | |
|---|---|
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Liepman Literary Agency
Marc Koralnik |
| Original language | |
| English | |
| Weblink | |
| http://www.benjohncock.com/writi … | |
THE LAST PILOT
Jim Harrison is a test pilot, one of the exalted few, launching himself into the skies above the Mojave desert in an attempt to fly faster than the speed of sound. Jim spends his days narrowly avoiding unconsciousness in his efforts to reach space, and his nights at his friend Pancho's bar, often with his wife, Grace. The couple are desperate for a baby but are told it's unlikely they'll ever conceive, a fate they come to accept before finding out that, against all odds, Grace is pregnant.
In January 1959, Harrison is ordered to Washington for a top secret briefing. Sputnik has caused panic in the US Administration and they want seven test pilots for a project to put a man in space before the Russians. Jim turns down the chance to participate in Project Mercury, returning home to become a father, doting on his new daughter, Florence. The space race becomes more urgent and the Air Force push the limits of flight further, harder and faster. As Jim begins to make revolutionary new progress, Florence becomes seriously ill and, after a brief period of respite, dies at the age of two.
Heartbroken, Grace and Jim battle to come to terms with the death of their only child. Jim accepts a job offer from NASA and they move to the suburbs of Houston, where a shiny new life with all the latest mod cons greets the now-famous New Nine'. Left alone in an empty house built for a family, while Jim works long hours, Grace finds life on the camp unbearable and resents being an astronaut's wife. Distracted by his flights and unable to tell her he is similarly devastated, Jim focuses on his career over his marriage and Grace leaves him to return home to the Mojave. But Jim is grappling with increasingly severe anxiety attacks that often occur at work; he comes close to breakdown several times before he is grounded and told to seek help, replaced on the upcoming mission to space by Neil Armstrong. Unable to confront everything he has loved and lost, he takes desperate action
THE LAST PILOT is a deeply moving, skilful and absorbing debut, with a very real writing talent behind it. Ben was awarded a grant to finish this book by the Arts Council, after gathering over 20 letters of keen support from editors and authors, including George Saunders, Joanne Harris and Matt Haig. He has also won short story prizes including the American Literary Merit Award and the National Short Story Day competition.
BENJAMIN JOHNCOCK was born in England in 1978. His short stories have been published by The Fiction Desk and The Junket. He is the recipient of an Arts Council England grant and the American Literary Merit
Award, and is a winner of Comma Press's National Short Story Day competition. He also writes for the Guardian. He lives in Norwich, England, with his wife, his daughter, and his son. THE LAST PILOT is
his first novel.
http://www.benjohncock.com/writing/intro.html
In January 1959, Harrison is ordered to Washington for a top secret briefing. Sputnik has caused panic in the US Administration and they want seven test pilots for a project to put a man in space before the Russians. Jim turns down the chance to participate in Project Mercury, returning home to become a father, doting on his new daughter, Florence. The space race becomes more urgent and the Air Force push the limits of flight further, harder and faster. As Jim begins to make revolutionary new progress, Florence becomes seriously ill and, after a brief period of respite, dies at the age of two.
Heartbroken, Grace and Jim battle to come to terms with the death of their only child. Jim accepts a job offer from NASA and they move to the suburbs of Houston, where a shiny new life with all the latest mod cons greets the now-famous New Nine'. Left alone in an empty house built for a family, while Jim works long hours, Grace finds life on the camp unbearable and resents being an astronaut's wife. Distracted by his flights and unable to tell her he is similarly devastated, Jim focuses on his career over his marriage and Grace leaves him to return home to the Mojave. But Jim is grappling with increasingly severe anxiety attacks that often occur at work; he comes close to breakdown several times before he is grounded and told to seek help, replaced on the upcoming mission to space by Neil Armstrong. Unable to confront everything he has loved and lost, he takes desperate action
THE LAST PILOT is a deeply moving, skilful and absorbing debut, with a very real writing talent behind it. Ben was awarded a grant to finish this book by the Arts Council, after gathering over 20 letters of keen support from editors and authors, including George Saunders, Joanne Harris and Matt Haig. He has also won short story prizes including the American Literary Merit Award and the National Short Story Day competition.
BENJAMIN JOHNCOCK was born in England in 1978. His short stories have been published by The Fiction Desk and The Junket. He is the recipient of an Arts Council England grant and the American Literary Merit
Award, and is a winner of Comma Press's National Short Story Day competition. He also writes for the Guardian. He lives in Norwich, England, with his wife, his daughter, and his son. THE LAST PILOT is
his first novel.
http://www.benjohncock.com/writing/intro.html
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Book
Published 2015-08-01 by Picador |