Giveaway — Salvatore Scibona
Among my other adventures this summer, I had the privilege of meeting Salvatore Scibona.
Salvatore has just written a novel. And had it published. (Angels singing background music.) The novel tells the story of events in Cleveland, Ohio on August 15, 1953 — covering the day from seven perspectives … and fifty years of history.
Provincetown Arts says, “The author’s intelligence as an observer cannot be denied or ignored . . . [The End] brings new light into the prism of the American novel . . . This is a novel to reread, to return to many times over. Be prepared to be stunned.”
“A masterful novel set amid racial upheaval in 1950s America during the flight of second-generation immigrants from their once-necessary ghettos. Full of wisdom, consequence, and grace, Salvatore Scibona’s radiant debut brims with the promise of a remarkable literary career, of which The End is only the beginning.”
—Annie Dillard
Salvatore’s also just a really nice guy and fun to know. He offered to do a book giveaway here at DaMomma, and I’m just tickled.
So here are the rules — if you want this book, inscribed to you from Salvatore — leave him a note in the comments. Tell him who your favorite author is and why. Salvatore will pick his favorite answer and I’ll put you in touch. I’ll close the comments Tuesday night and he’ll pick Wednesday.
September 8th, 2008 at 12:18 am
My favorite author is William Faulkner. I do not have an English degree, I am not a writer. My last English class was over 15 years ago. I never read Faulkner in school; I fell upon him by chance. I read “The Sound and the Fury” on a whim. I didn’t understand a thing until about half-way into the book and then I was enthralled. As soon as I finished it I read it again. I grew up in California and had no idea what the South was like but I was compelled by the story, by the perspective and most of all, by the cadence of the writing. I fell in love with the rhythm and tone of his storytelling. “Light in August” remains my favorite novel and I have learned so much more about the historic flood it was roughly based on because I love the story so much. I feel immersed in every story he tells as I read it. I read simply for pleasure, and I appreciate a powerful storyteller who simultaneously wraps me in the story and makes me want to know more.
September 8th, 2008 at 5:39 am
My favourite author is usually the one I am reading at any given moment! The amount of times I have finished a book and declared it to be the best I have ever read and the author the best in the world…
I have many authors whose books I love, but if I keep going back to just them, my doors to the wonderful world of literature are only ajar and not fully open.
All the best with your book.
September 8th, 2008 at 7:46 am
My favorite book? Just ONE? That’s like picking my favoriate child…. I have literally been sitting here for about half an hour thinking about it. Or should I say over-thinking about it. There is the first ‘;adult’ book I ever read, at age 10, which was a dusty old hardcover copy of the Wizard of Oz. I read it until it fell apart. There is the first book that kept me up all night reading it, which was Moby Dick (granted, it was an abridged version - I was twelve). There is the first book that made me feel worldly, like an adult, which was Are You There God, Its Me, Margaret. There are countless books that have entertained me, made me think, and changed my way of looking at the world (The Book of Ruth, Memoirs of a Geisha, The Sheltering Sky, The Kite Runner, Dante’s Inferno).
The book that popped into my head when I read this post is the one I’m going with - Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver. Her writing is lyrical - when I read that book for the first time I was in a dark place personally, thought I had lost my lust for life and my lust for a good story, and I became completely immersed in this book. It was like a little beam of light into my dark world. And isn’t that what a good book is supposed to do?
Congratulations on publishing your book - I cannot wait to read it. I love Annie Dillard, too, so an endorsement from her is good enough for me!
Best of luck to you.
-Ellie
September 8th, 2008 at 8:23 am
My question is…..who has time to read when you have kids?!
I keed, I keed.
My favorite author is the one I automatically purchase at the store when I see he has a new book out without even checking to see what the book is about: R.A. Salvatore. I picked up his first novel in the Drizzt series, “The Crystal Shard”, several years ago and promptly added it to my very large “to-read” pile, and then didn’t get around to reading it for several years. When I finally got to it about 3 years ago, I found that it was a bit klunky and hard to get into. But his gift for creating vivid, likeable and memorable characters was present even though the rest of his writing skills were still a bit rough. It’s been a pleasure to read through his books and watch his writing skills improve as his stories and characters grew more detailed.
Congratulations on the book.
September 8th, 2008 at 8:49 am
My favorite author is Dean Koontz - for this simple reason - everytime I read a story he has written, I am keenly aware of possibilities existing outside the scope of my experience and inside of human nature that leave within me a certain feeling of hope, an impression. When I try to seek out it’s precise origin, or define it in any way, it becomes elusive, but when I simply believe the extraordinary exists, the hope I feel is a gift everytime I remember the story, or a character, or a great line from the book.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:29 am
I love Andre Dubus for his persistence in revealing humanity and its light within the grittiest of settings. Right now Steve Almond for his neurotic yet hysterical observations on pop culture.
When I read Anne Lamott’s nonfiction I found out for the first time that it was okay to write about God without sounding too midwesternly. For her he’s another character among the gritty, light, weird, unforgettable ones who populate her stories. And for showing me it’s okay to write about Him plus neurosis plus grace, she is my very favorite writer.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:05 am
While my pat answer is usually Geoffrey Chaucer, because I’m a classicist, my favorite contemporary writer is Anthony Grooms, author of Bombingham. He was the reason I chose the graduate writing program that I chose. Not only is his writing style fluid and colorful, but he touches on an area of history that needed to be explored through fiction with more depth. His book of short stories, Trouble No More, is also excellent. I can’t count the number of local events I attended, just to hear Professor Grooms read his stories in his own voice. This man had such a significant impact on my own writing.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:09 am
First of all, I have tons of favorite authors and books. One of my favs has to be Terry Pratchett. I love his sense of humor and his writing style. The Discworld books are soooo awesome. He does for fantasy what Adams does for Sci Fi.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:26 am
This is a hard question for me also. I love Jane Austin because she was so ahead of her time and her point of view can be so contemporary. I love her sense of humor.
I also love Joyce Carol Oates. Sometimes when I need to remember that my life is not that bad, I dive into one of her books. I love the darkness!
I also recently read Kite Runner and shame on me, can’t think of the author’s name right now, but it was the best book I have read in a very long time! I can’t wait to read more.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:32 am
A friend of mine recently told me how she was sharing a bench outside a grand church with another good friend when they started talking about what they’d say if Jesus suddenly appeared. My friend was quiet for a moment and then said, “Pick me, pick me.” We talked about how hard it is to live any other kind of life other than one where we want to be first. Rather fitting for this contest, no?
When I first read the question I thought I needed to pick someone like Flannery O’Connor and try to impress the heck out of you Salvatore. Someone else had recommended your book just last week and I promptly put it in my notebook where I keep a list of books I want to read. But the sad fact is, other than reading her collection of letters called The Habit Of Being, I haven’t read one single thing by Flannery O’Connor.
This past winter my adult daughter wrote and produced a one act play based on warped messages I gave her about sexuality due to my own story of childhood sexual abuse. While she was writing the play she was reading My Name Is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok. She mentioned in her play notes that she felt like she’d gone through her own crucifixion while writing the play. Watching the play made me feel like I was going through my own. Not long afterwards I saw a copy of Potok’s book in a thrift store. Wondering (and scared to know)what the crucifixion was that my daughter had gone through while writing her play I bought the book and read it. The best fiction reveals myself to me. Sometimes it feels like a slap in the face and sometimes it’s gentle yet persistent. I often think of the mother in Potok’s book and pray that I will stop waiting at a window. People can speak the truth to one another all they want and it often falls on deaf ears. Fiction, at its best, speaks truth but gives one enough distance to really hear it. It was as if I could hear the voices of my adult children trying to talk to me while reading My Name Is Asher Lev. That book, and so it’s author, will always hold a place in my heart for its part in my ongoing transformation. Transformation that is both painful and welcome.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Well, I have two favorite authors, and while I have spent most af an hour trying to decide which one to write about, I have found that I cannot. My love for the two authors is for such different reasons. So I decided to tell you about both!
The first is Nathaniel Hawthorne. I read The Scarlet Letter for the first time in English class in 7th grade. Of course everyone in my class hated it - all except for me. It was with that book that my love of reading took hold and opened a door to new experiences and strange worlds. The honesty with which Hawthorne writes, and the painful themes he uses, as well as the obvious symbolism that he tucks into his characters and words, inspired me to read more classical literature, and has led me back to the story of Hester Prynne time and time again.
The second author is Melanie Rawn. While I am not a regular reader of Sci-Fi/Fantasy novels, Melanie Rawn’s exploration of character, desire, love, and greed, as well as her ability to paint her characters with a deep sense of reality, draw me in as no other author can. I read my first Melanie Rawn novel in 8th grade, and have read some upwards of 10 times. I regularly find myself falling half in love with both her female and male characters, and rooting for them to find the happiness that I so crave myself.
Congratulations on the book!
September 8th, 2008 at 11:19 am
This one’s easy… Neal Stephenson is my favorite author. His Cryptonomicon and the Baroque Cycle trilogy are outstanding. He is a master at blending history and fiction in such a way that you think you’ve just found Isaac Newton’s secret assistant and you have to go check the history books to see if Newton really did this or that experiment - all combined with pirate-like adventure and scandal. I felt like I learned more history from these four books than from my High School history class - though I had to make sure to fact-check myself as they are fiction books after all!
September 8th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Good Lord, I’d have to break it down by genres. Douglas Adams for science fiction, Piers Anthony for fantasy, Nicholas Sparks for romantic drama, Boyton for board books (grin), etc. They all resonate with me in different ways, tapping into a certain part of my personality.
September 8th, 2008 at 11:34 am
wow…that is like asking which parent you love more…how do you choose?
One that comes to mind is Christopher Moore. I read Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff after hearing it recommended on a podcast. It was amazing and lead me to more of his books (A Dirty Job, The Stupidest Angel, etc), which were just as enjoyable. I think it takes a lot confidence to take an extremely well known story and characters and tell the “other side” of the story.
September 8th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
Margaret Atwood.
At first it was because she was the first poet to make me cringe. A reaction that poetry rarely invokes.
You fit into me
like a hook into an eye
A fish hook
An open eye
Then, as I grew older, I enjoyed the ways in which she captured the female spirit. It felt as though she was able to be truthful and not romantic. She is able to remember the nuances of a 13 year old girl and the complexities that they go through, and remind the reader of things deeply rooted in the background of the mind. She can combine a poetic slant on the simplest of things in a time where authors are told to be less flowery. When I start one of her books I limit myself to a chapter a night. Within a few nights I stay up until it is finished. Her books make me want to examine my Canadian heritage. They make me look at humanity with a different view. They make me want to read other Canadian writers and, most profoundly, they inspire me to write. She is my hero.
September 8th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
I’m going to be sentimental here and go with Judy Blume, the author of the great young adult classics including Blubber and Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret.
She was the first writer who made me understand that the lives of ordinary people (esp girls) can make for compelling, extraordinary stories if you scratch the surface a little. And, through her, I came to realize the power of words to paint vivid, unforgettable images that will be stamped into your brain forever.
Thinking about Margaret and her friends chanting “I must, I must, I must increase my bust!” still makes me smile…
September 8th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
My favorite author is Harper Lee. I have read To Kill A Mockingbird many times, and all for the same reason. It is a book I can pick up and open to any page and read a few lines and I am instantly pulled into it… it floods me with the story, which I love, it places me with what has come before and what comes after, it pulls me into beloved characters, it makes me want to read and hope for the better in man.
September 8th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
2 that I come back to often:
Roald Dahl, because his stories are timeless - I read them again and again and lose myself in the characters and the story the same way I did the first time I read them close to 30 years ago, and it is a joy to share his books with my children, who have the same sense of ‘personhood,’ independence and adventure that are the hallmarks of Dahl’s main characters.
Anne Lamott, because she tells it like it is, and her writing is honest, raw, moving and inspiring all at the same time. Forget the “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” series; read “Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son’s First Year.” You’ll laugh, you’ll cry and you’ll go wake up your kids when you finish the book to hug and kiss them all over, grateful to have them as a compass in your life! Then move on to “Traveling Mercies” which sort of continues her story . . . ok I’ll stop now!
September 8th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
My favorite author is Damomma. She writes about familiar issues with humor and clarity, and most of all–feeling. She also writes about people I know, and that is special. Damomma connects me with mothers today as well as things I remember from mothering a generation ago.
September 8th, 2008 at 3:03 pm
My favorite author is Damomma. She writes about familiar issues with humor and clarity, and most of all–feeling. She also writes about people I know, and that is special. Damomma connects me with mothers today as well as things I remember from mothering a generation ago.
September 8th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
My absolute favorite book would have to be Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. I love the fact that this was a “sensationalist” novel and the first of its kind. I have always appreciated how both of the Bronte sisters took great care to describe what life was really like for the women of their time. I especially find that they’ve given a voice to a class of people, mostly women, who ,according to their societies, had nothing important to offer. Of course I really love this book because I can’t seem to put it down while reading it and it has often helped me to reflect upon qualities I wish to continue working on gaining and bettering in my own life.
September 8th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
My favorite Author is my eleven year old son, John. He fills five cent Wal Mart one subject notebooks with the most beautiful, inspiring prose I have ever read. Everything is from a perspective of a bright child soaking in the world around him and laying it out in the way only a child could. It is honest, it is painful, it is joyous and when I read it sometimes it overwhelms me with the pride and sadness that goes along with being a mother.
He has written about the pain of watching his Aunt die of Breast cancer at 40 and of his other beloved Aunt going to fight in Iraq. He describes in glee of his favorite prank, which is to soak Mom by wrapping elastics around the sink sprayer so when the faucet turns on, the user gets soaked. His frustrations with his world are so valid and seem so painful at times, but they never are bigger than the things he writes about that make his life wonderful. His description of a summer day that I let him play outside until well after dark with his best friend Jake made me fell as if I was running barefoot with the boys, teasing their sisters, their brown legs carrying them from tree branch to the corner store for a freeze pop. It is honesty, it is love, it is confusion and glee all on paper and nothing beats it.
September 8th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
Lois Lowry, A Summer to Die. I read it when I was 10 or 11, and the story has staid not far from my consciousness ever since as a reminder of how fragile life is. It helps me remember to pay attention to the important rather than the most urgent in life (I’m not so good at it, but at least I know I’m making the mistake when I choose the latter over the former). I have read many many other great books in the many many years since, and a number of them teach the same lesson. But “A Summer to Die” was the first time I learned it.
September 8th, 2008 at 3:41 pm
If I have to pick one - it would be Jesse Stuart. I’m from Kentucky, I love folklore and most importantly of all, my daddy got me started reading Mr. Stuart’s books. So whenever I’m re-reading a Jesse Stuart book, I feel like Daddy is reading it along with me.
September 8th, 2008 at 6:16 pm
I’m sorry to reply to another comment in this thread, but “Annie - another one” did not leave a link, and I hope she sees this: I LOVE JESSE STUART and I have never, ever met anyone else who knew who the heck he was. He is one of the reasons I became a teacher - I was so inspired by him! His poetry is so beautiful as well.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
It is not possible for me to state a favorite author. In a given week, I easily breeze through 3 or 4 books - both fiction and non-fiction. The authors vary widely. Among those recently read include Stephenie Meyer, Jenna Blum, Audrey Niffenegger, Bill Bryson, Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum, Deborah Diesen and Marion Zimmer Bradley. Reading is one of my favorite things to do especially in the wee hours of the night. And you will find me and my little boys returning and checking out books from our local library nearly every day.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
i think the novelist who is nearest and dearest to my heart would have to be laurie colwin, because she wrote such thoughtful novels about people with rich, complicated interior lives, and she wrote so richly about food and all things domestic. i cried when i heard that she had died.
September 8th, 2008 at 9:47 pm
My favorite writer is John Irving, because his books ask me to think about hard issues and the real people that they touch, because they have made me laugh and cry and cringe at the human condition, and mostly because they recognize the hard truth that there are no bad guys, that we are all the heros of our own stories.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
I love different authors for different things. Recently I have loved Elizabeth Peters for her spectacular grasp of human nature and her sense of adventure and fun. I enjoy the way Jasper Fforde brings the absurd and the hilarious in all genres and weaves them together. I always go back to C.S. Lewis because I have read his works since I was little and I seem to find something new every time. I enjoy a lot of children’s fiction because it’s intended to teach– Shannon Hale, Blue Balliett and Cornelia Funke all bring such vivid characters to life in their wonderful stories! I learn through the characters experience, and I think that’s what I love about most good novels. That and and quick-witted protagonists.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
Dear Pat Conroy, if you read this comment, understand that you are my favorite. However, you let Rick Bragg sweep me off my feet this summer. He rocked my world, actually. I’m sure it’s a fad… please be patient with me.
I’ve never been okay with the fact that my son will never meet my grandfather. Rick Bragg’s book “Ava’s Man” allowed me to spend night after night remembering EXACTLY how my grandfather went from sharecropper to superhero in just one generation. “All Over but the Shoutin” helped me celebrate who I am today, by embracing the grit, fight, and grace of the women who raised me… perhaps that’s the greatest gift my son could receive from them.
September 8th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
Dear Salvatore,
I live in Cleveland and have been to the Feast many times, and I especially enjoy reading books set here that showcase what an amazing, unique city it is. My favorite author is Madeline L’engle, because her books span time, space, religion, and science without being preachy or condescending. I have read and re-read every one of her books many times, and they never get old.
September 9th, 2008 at 2:29 am
Gunnar Sønsteby’s Report from No. 24 is fast becoming my favorite book of all time. Not because the prose is poetic (it’s not, especially since it’s a translation) or because he has a special way with words (he doesn’t; it’s very matter-of-fact, with short sentences and digressions that end abruptly), but because it provides me with a link to my family’s history. Sønsteby worked for the Norwegian Resistance Movement during WWII, and his book is a chronicle of his work during that time; my grandparents also worked with the NRM, but I know nothing of their work because my grandfather is 15 years dead & my grandmother has lost the ability to recall that stuff. So I turn to Sønsteby in an effort to learn something, anything, of what my family went through nearly 70 years ago.
September 9th, 2008 at 9:22 am
First let me say that I am taking advantage of your comments section here, but do NOT need to be considered in the giveaway. I hope you don’t mind!
You see, I absolutely had to post here today and let you know Liz that I have known Salvatore since he and my older sister went off to Kindergarten together, hand in hand. (er….sort of)
My sister Anne and I lived 5 houses down the street from Sam (HI SAM!!!!!) until they graduated High School together (they were 2 grades ahead of me). We always thought of Sam as a surrogate big brother.
Liz-I have been reading your blog on a regular basis for a couple years now, and you never fail to inspire and humor me. I myself am the mother of a 2.5 year old girl and one more on the way. I still live in Cleveland, Ohio. I cannot tell you how thrilled I was to check in on your blog yesterday morning and see Sam’s name blazed across the top, the very title of your post!!
Sam-(sorry, I know you prefer Salvatore these days, but I cannot break myself of old habits) I want to let you know that we are all so incredibly proud of you!! My mother read the article about you in the Plain Dealer and promptly cut it out, made photocopies and sent them to all she could think of! I think my folks are as proud of you as if you were their own kid!
We sent copies to Annie and to Vanessa and Yuli, who were both in Cleveland in July for Annie’s baby shower.
Anyway, thanks Liz for letting me highjack your comments section to say a hello to an old friend and Sam, best of luck to you always!
love-Amy O
September 9th, 2008 at 11:50 am
I don’t know if I can narrow my answer to one. The first time I read Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser was the first time I realized that literature could be thought provoking, operating on more than one level, and, frankly, sad.
The author right now that seems to be in the lead, according to my night stand collection, is David Sedaris. He takes the mundane to the sublime. A story about a subway ride becomes nuanced, brings to mind something from childhood, strips away while simultaneously building up. Makes me laugh like a crazy person.
My mom was born in Cleveland in March of 1954 and it’s a time and place I know little about due to the fact that they packed up and headed west to California in 1958.
September 9th, 2008 at 12:09 pm
I would have to say that Dalton Conley is one of my favorite writers. In “Honky” he explores the sociology of growing up white in the housing projects of NYC and bases it on his own childhood. It is an amazing read and really makes you think and look at all that you may or may not have been given based on your skin color. He also has other really informative books that review some other social issues - “The Pecking Order - Which Siblings Succeed and Why” and “Being Black, Living in the Red: Race, Wealth and Social Policy”
I had the priviledge of meeting him at a book review sponsored by our local library. It was great to get even further insight into him and his works.
September 9th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Oh - it’s practically impossible to pick my favorite author! I guess I’ll just go with my favorite author of childrens books… and that has to be Dr. Suess! I still have my copy of “Are you my mother?” and can’t wait to share the rhymes of “Cat in the Hat” and “One Fish Two Fish” with my children someday.
September 9th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
My favorite author is Charles Dickens because of his insight into the thoughts and feelings of children, his compassion for their struggles and his respect for their identity as people.
September 9th, 2008 at 3:04 pm
Well, it was down to 2 books, but in the end, it would have to be Don DeLillo’s Underworld. Because a post-cold-war great American epic with trash as a central theme (I’m obsessed with trash)? And it really made me a great admirer of DeLillo - I had never found his previous books particularly engaging, but in Underworld, his writing was engaging, the storyline was captivating, very un-DeLillo. Of course, that just proved to me the breadth of his talent.
September 9th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
I fell in love with reading at a young age, so I’ll have to say Laura Ingalls Wilder, E. B. White, Roald Dahl, Tove Jansson, etc. Gosh, so many books, so little time. I keep an Excel spreadsheet of books to read (over 400 of them) and read about 5-7 books per month. If I win, I promise to read The End absolutely next!
September 9th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
Without a doubt my favorite author is Augusten Burroughs. He is sarcastic and biting. His life shocking and howlingly funny (is howlingly a word? If it isn’t it should be.). I am enraptured by his way of looking at the world. He routinely breaks my heart and then he proceeds to repair it from within the confines of white pages. I carry pieces of his words in my mind and in my soul.
He makes me cry. And I never cry.
But most of all, he gives me hope. That people can change. That you can make the best out of horrifying circumstances. That despite everything a soul has been through, we can emerge stronger.
(Wow, I seem to have gotten really sappy here.)
Plus he can make me nearly pee myself laughing. But really, that’s just a bonus.
September 9th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
My favorite author is Edna St. Vincent Millay. Why? Because I return to her again and again, when in need of a kindred female soul to remind me that I am not alone, that as a woman I have strength and choices, and that at all costs, it is best to love freely and wholly. The grace and spirit with which she lived her life, especially in the era she lived, amazes me.
And if that isn’t enough to provide understanding of why she inspires me and is a favorite, this may do it:
“A mile of clean sand.
I will write my name here, and the trouble that is in my heart.
I will write the date & place of my birth,
What I was to be,
And what I am.
I will write my forty sins, my thousand follies,
My four unspeakable acts…
I will write the names of the cities I have fled from,
The names of the men & women I have wronged.
I will write the holy name of her I serve,
And how I serve her ill.
And I will sit on the beach & let the tide come in.
I will watch with peace the great calm tongue of the tide
Licking from the sand the unclean story of my heart.”
Ahhhh…..
September 9th, 2008 at 11:41 pm
Such amazing comments! I have no idea how Salvatore will pick. He has taken a peek from the road — he is doing an event in New Mexico this week.
Ann, I was particularly entertained to know that you already knew him. Small world.
Comments are closed, and Salvatore will respond when he gets back.