STEPHEN AMIDON
  • Home
  • About
    • Biography
    • Works
    • Events
    • Press
  • BOOKS
    • Locust Lane >
      • Locust Lane Press
    • Human Capital
    • The New City
    • Security
    • The Real Justine
    • The Primitive >
      • Il Primitivo
    • Thirst
    • Subdivision
    • Splitting the Atom
    • Non Fiction >
      • Something Like the Gods
      • The Sublime Engine
  • FILM
    • SCREENPLAYS >
      • THE LEISURE SEEKER
    • ADAPTATIONS >
      • SECURITY
      • IL CAPITALE UMANO
      • HUMAN CAPITAL
  • THEATER
    • 6BIANCA
  • Contact
  • Latest

Reading with...Stephen Amidon Shelf Awareness

1/13/2023

 
Picture

Stephen Amidon was born in Chicago and grew up on the East Coast. He lived in London for 12 years before returning to the United States in 1999. He now lives in Massachusetts and Torino, Italy. His books have been published in 16 countries and include two works of nonfiction, a collection of stories and seven novels, including Human Capital, adapted as a film directed by Marc Meyers in 2019, and Security, also adapted as a film and released by Netflix in summer 2021. His ninth novel is Locust Lane (Celadon, January 17, 2023), about the search for justice and the fault lines of power and influence in a seemingly idyllic town.
​

Handsell readers your book in 25 words or less:
A murder in suburbia sets three families on a collision course as they scramble to protect their treasured children from the consequences of the crime.

On your nightstand now: 
Down and Out in Paradise: The Life of Anthony Bourdain by Charles Leerhsen. I was always deeply impressed by the broadcasting and writing of Bourdain, who possessed such a humane, wise and unpretentious presence. I'm curious to see how such a seemingly ideal life could have gone so terribly wrong at the end.
Razorblade Tears by S.A. Cosby. I read Blacktop Wasteland last year and was immediately sold on Cosby's brand of hard-bitten Southern noir. More, please.
The Night Shift by Alex Finlay. I'm about halfway through this and think it's terrific. It's only Finlay's second novel, but he writes with immense authority and skill.
Olga Dies Dreaming by Xochitl Gonzalez. I've heard nothing but good things about Olga and plan to see what all the fuss is about.
​
Read more here.

Some novels simply do not go away.         The Moviegoer and me.

11/20/2013

 
Picture
61 years ago today, one of my all time favorite books won the National Book Award.  The Moviegoer by Walker Percy faced stiff competition, including from another book that makes my top ten list: Richard Yates’ Revolutionary Road.  

​More recently, I wrote an appreciation of Percy's novel for The New Statesman.  

As I said at the time: 

"Some novels simply do not go away. They lodge in your consciousness, expanding rather than disappearing after the last page is turned. Although there are countless other books waiting to be read, you find yourself returning to this one, hungry and perplexed, and even a bit uneasy about its effect on you. Its mysteries deepen with each reading. Your curiosity about it is never quenched. You cannot dispense with it.

The Moviegoer has proved to be just such a book for me, as it has for countless others."

My words helped get the novel back into print in the UK—although it is shocking that it was out of print in the first place.  

As it happens, tomorrow I am off to the Turin Film Festival for ten days of movie-going of my own.  I think I know what I will read on the plane.  

    What's going on

    Archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    September 2022
    July 2022
    April 2022
    February 2022
    December 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    September 2018
    September 2017
    August 2017
    September 2016
    May 2016
    March 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013

    Categories

    All
    6BIANCA
    Adam McKay
    Aida Begic
    Albert Camus
    Alessandro Avataneo
    Alessandro Marini
    Alison Espach
    Antonella Pinelli
    Argo
    Audible
    BBC Radio
    Book Club Guide
    Booklist
    Book Reading
    Brookline Booksmith
    Burning Boy
    But Why: A Podcast For Curious Kids
    Carlo Virzì
    Cary Joji Fukunaga
    Cassandra Campbell
    Celadon Press
    Celeste Amidon
    Charlotte Brontë
    Cheri Passell
    Christina Pfeiffer
    City Life Anteo
    Corriera Della Sera
    CrimeReads
    Crime Reads
    Daily Beast
    Daniele Marmi
    Decider
    Donald Sutherland
    Don Delillo
    Elise Dumpleton
    Essay
    Ferrari
    Festival Delle Storie
    Film Forum
    Florida Keys
    Fontanafredda
    Francesco Bruni
    Francesco Migliaccio
    Francesco Piccolo
    Gian Paolo Serino
    Glauco Della Sciucca
    Hall Of Fame
    Harriett Gilbert
    Helen Mirren
    Herbert Marcuse
    Human Capital
    Il Capitale Umano
    Il Giornale
    I Love Italian Movies
    Il Primitivo
    Irish Film Institute
    James Joyce
    Jane Eyre
    J C Candor
    Jim Come
    Jimmy Prosser
    Joe McGinniss
    John Steinbeck
    Jorge Perugorria
    La Guraimba Film Festival
    La Vera Justine
    Liars In Love
    Locust Lane
    LUCA MASTRANTONIO
    Luca Scarlini
    Maddy Casale
    Marc Meyers
    Margin Call
    Matilde Gioli
    Meridian
    Miami International Film Festival
    Michael Cart
    Michel Reilhac
    Mickey Spillane
    Moira Macdonald
    Mollie Odintz
    Netflix
    Nicola Tescari
    One-Dimensional Man
    Paolo Mereghetti
    Paolo Virzì
    Paolo Virzì
    Paris Trout
    Paul Auster
    Pete Dexter
    Peter Chelsom
    Petra Diestlerová
    Philip Womack
    Raindance Festival
    Red Badge Of Courage
    Revolutionary Road
    Riccardo Angelini
    Richard Yates
    Roberto Manassero
    Ron Charles
    Salon Internazionale Del Libro
    San Sebastian Film Festival
    Scuola Holden
    Seattle Times
    Security
    Serena Sinigalia
    Shelf Awareness
    Shepherd
    Something Like The Gods
    Sport
    Starred Review
    Stephen Amidon
    Stephen Crane
    Suburbs
    Teatro Stabile Torino
    The Atlantic
    The Big Short
    The Guardian
    The Leisure Seeker
    The Moviegoer
    The Nerd Daily
    The Spectator
    The Sublime Engine
    Thomas Amidon
    TOFM
    Toronto International Film Festival
    Travel2Next
    Tribeca Film Festival
    Turin Film Festival
    Ulice Kobylek
    Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi
    Venice Film Festival
    Vermont Public Radio
    Village Voice
    Vintage Books And Wine
    VPR
    Wake Forest Magazine
    Wake Forest University
    Walker Percy
    White Noise

    RSS Feed

  • Home
  • About
    • Biography
    • Works
    • Events
    • Press
  • BOOKS
    • Locust Lane >
      • Locust Lane Press
    • Human Capital
    • The New City
    • Security
    • The Real Justine
    • The Primitive >
      • Il Primitivo
    • Thirst
    • Subdivision
    • Splitting the Atom
    • Non Fiction >
      • Something Like the Gods
      • The Sublime Engine
  • FILM
    • SCREENPLAYS >
      • THE LEISURE SEEKER
    • ADAPTATIONS >
      • SECURITY
      • IL CAPITALE UMANO
      • HUMAN CAPITAL
  • THEATER
    • 6BIANCA
  • Contact
  • Latest