Above All Men by Eric Shonkwiler
| “Shonkwiler takes the world on his own terms, and wrestles it to the ground.” –Tom Lutz, The Los Angeles Review of Books    |
OUT OF PRINT
Paperback 5″ x 8″ DescriptionYears from now, America is slowly collapsing. Crops are drying up and oil is running out. People flee cities for the countryside, worsening the drought and opening the land to crime. Amid this decay and strife, war veteran David Parrish fights to keep his family and farm together. However, the murder of a local child opens old wounds, forcing him to confront his own nature on a hunt through dust storms and crumbling towns for the killer. |
Reviews:
“Revelatory.” –William Wright, Chicago Book Review
“Stark, sparse, and honest.” –David S. Atkinson, Sundog Lit
“Shonkwiler renders the degraded deprivation…in artful, distinctively crafted language.” –Zach Kopp, Examiner.com
“Well-written and possibly prophetic.” –Tammy McCartney, San Franscisco Book Review
“Masterful use of stark, raw style and form. Above All Men…will leave you feeling alive.” –Steph Post
“Its power cannot be denied…a strong contender for the best book I’ve read this year.” –Booksie’s Blog
“Shonkwiler is an author of immense talent.” –L.M. Stull
“Shonkwiler writes sparsely, but deeply—someone who knows that water, land and sky can transform a life at each encounter.” –Jean Bartlett, San Jose Mercury News
“Stark, compelling, and impossible to ignore. Shonkwiler’s prose rises and falls in poetic fashion; he has an excellent grasp of rhythm.” –Kenrick Vezina, Foreword Reviews
“Painfully beautiful shots. His imagery is that arresting…We can hope Eric Shonkwiler’s future is fraught with books as honed as this one.” –Ann Beman, museum of americana
“Shonkwiler’s words are brilliantly poetic—quiet creepers that seem stark and undecorated on the surface, but the lines hum with underlying emotion.” –Leah Angstman, Los Angeles Review of Books
“An entirely rewarding read.” –Jacob Budenz, jmww
“Shonkwiler creates a very distinctive, memorable story. We practically breathe in the dust that rises up out of nowhere, beautiful and terrifying.” –Jennifer Messner, Books, Personally
“Above All Men is a book you will not find yourself capable of walking away from…It’s a tale of survival as much as it is one of destruction. And Shonkwiler pulls it off effortlessly.” –Lori Hettler, The Next Best Book Blog
Advance Praise
“Shonkwiler has taken an iconic landscape and filtered it through near-collapse and fear, then through loyalty and love.”
–Susan Straight, National Book Award finalist
“Sparse and poetic, the words within these pages are as sharp as a corn knife.”
—Frank Bill, author of Donnybrook and Crimes in Southern Indiana
“A rare, stark and beautiful achievement.”
—Paula Bomer, author of Nine Months
About the Author
Eric Shonkwiler’s writing has appeared in The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Millions, Fiddleblack, [PANK] Magazine, and Midwestern Gothic. He was born and raised in Ohio, received his MFA from The University of California Riverside, and has lived and worked in every contiguous U.S. time zone.
Book Tour
Eric will be embarking on a cross-country book tour to promote Above All Men starting March 2014. For a list of venues and dates, click here.
