The Hungarian Bookkeeper

re: book review request by award-winning author D...

2011-12-18T11:46:39.492-07:00

re: book review request by award-winning author

Dear Hungarian Bookkeeper:

I'm an award-winning author with a new book of fiction out this fall. Ugly To Start With is a series of thirteen interrelated stories about childhood published by West Virginia University Press.

Can I interest you in reviewing it?

If you write me back at johnmcummings@aol.com, I can email you a PDF of my book. If you require a bound copy, please ask, and I will forward your reply to my publisher. Or you can write directly to Abby Freeland at:

Abby.Freeland@mail.wvu.edu

My publisher, I should add, can also offer your readers a free excerpt of my book through a link from your blog to my publisher's website:
http://wvupressonline.com/cummings_ugly_to_start_with_9781935978084

Here’s what Jacob Appel, celebrated author of
Dyads and The Vermin Episode, says about my new collection: "In Ugly to Start With, set in the eastern panhandle of West Virginia, Cummings tackles the challenges of boyhood adventure and family conflict in a taut, crystalline style that captures the triumphs and tribulations of small-town life. He has a gift for transcending the particular experiences to his characters to capture the universal truths of human affection and suffering--emotional truths that the members of his audience will recognize from their own experiences of childhood and adolescence.”

My short stories have appeared in more than seventy-five literary journals, including North American Review, The Kenyon Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, and The Chattahoochee Review. Twice I have been nominated for The Pushcart Prize. My short story "The Scratchboard Project" received an honorable mention in The Best American Short Stories 2007.

I am also the author of the nationally acclaimed coming-of-age novel The Night I Freed John Brown (Philomel Books, Penguin Group, 2009), winner of The Paterson Prize for Books for Young Readers (Grades 7-12) and one of ten books recommended by USA TODAY.

For more information about me, please visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Michael_Cummings

Thank you very much, and I look forward to hearing back from you.

Kindly,

John Michael Cummings

Did you finish it? Am dying to hear how you felt ...

2010-03-07T06:15:23.406-07:00

Did you finish it? Am dying to hear how you felt at the end of the book1

TheSmartOne: I like your nick too :D Thanks for th...

2010-01-10T06:44:22.196-07:00

TheSmartOne: I like your nick too :D Thanks for the interest; as I have written to Dana, I am trying to get back to write in English as well, as soon as possible.

Hey there, my namesake! And you have a blog about ...

2010-01-10T05:36:30.979-07:00

Hey there, my namesake!
And you have a blog about books as well? Fantastic :)
And you draw and paint too?

I am definitely adding you to my google reader :)

Even your Hungarian blog (though I understand nothing)

Hi Dana, I am sooo happy you stopped by. It is not...

2010-01-05T10:32:12.825-07:00

Hi Dana, I am sooo happy you stopped by. It is not just a polite response - I am still (and always) amazed at how the internet can (quasi) bring people together. I love your Alice metaphore :D, it is exactly like that.

Anyhow, I am trying to do some English language writing on books, movies, etc, but it seems to be seasonal, i.e.: there are periods when I am totally enthusiastic about it, and writing post after post, but then I rather deal with my Hungarian blog... At this point (after all it is a new year so we need to make our new year's resolutions, don't we :D), I am dealing much more with my fine art side, and spending a lot of time in the studio. There are some serious changes in my life as well, so for two months I do not think I will have too much time for anything else that breaks my heart - but around March I am planning to get back to writing in English.

hello Kinga, I followed you over to your blog from...

2010-01-05T09:56:45.431-07:00

hello Kinga, I followed you over to your blog from Library thing, first following your link to your Hungarian art blog which Google semi translated for me. I liked seeing the art work you shared. From there, I arrived here, somewhat like Alice falling down the rabbit hole. I was very impressed by your review of Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress. Thank you for posting it. I really enjoyed that little book.
My name is Dana and I live in Florida. I'll stop by again.

Gavin and Vasilly: thanks! We are feeling better t...

2009-10-19T09:18:16.042-06:00

Gavin and Vasilly: thanks! We are feeling better today and slowly but surely back to track.

Feel better soon!

2009-10-18T19:51:57.318-06:00

Feel better soon!

Sorry you are all sick! Thenk you for the links a...

2009-10-18T13:51:16.343-06:00

Sorry you are all sick! Thenk you for the links and feel better soon.

"I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn...

2009-10-12T12:27:12.155-06:00

"I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world." And yet, here we are, almost 70 years later, still talking about those three little people! What an enduring love story!

I didn't know Reagan was the original choice! ...

2009-10-12T10:58:38.737-06:00

I didn't know Reagan was the original choice! Yikes. It is such a classic tale. I was afraid when I finally saw it that I would be let down after all the build up I grew up hearing. Nope. Loved it!

Gavin: I do not know Müller at all either :D It se...

2009-10-11T17:57:25.607-06:00

Gavin: I do not know Müller at all either :D It seems to me that she has to wait a lot with me - to be honest with you the whole leakage, the dishonesty of the prize did not encourage me too much to get to know her as soos as I can...

But we'll see. I have had a novel of hers on hold in my library but I am the 3rd one in the queue.

I have to agree about the 75%. I don't know M...

2009-10-11T15:51:45.545-06:00

I have to agree about the 75%. I don't know Muller at all and am curious about what you have to say about her.

The Bumbles: no, I thank YOU. It was much fun to r...

2009-10-05T20:42:47.358-06:00

The Bumbles: no, I thank YOU. It was much fun to revisit these old favourites of mine. And thanks for the invitation, I will definitely pop in!

Ah, you have spoken from my heart :D I do hate ove...

2009-10-05T20:39:53.525-06:00

Ah, you have spoken from my heart :D I do hate overexplaining and also, when I am hit on the head with some kind of (otherwise) evident "message" (in any form of art). I think we all should presume that our receiver is intelligent enough to figure out things themselves. Not to speak of the fact that the receiver's role is (would be) essential (and almost as important as the artist's role) in the process of creating any kind of real, authentical art.

I got excited seeing Tootsie mentioned and then my...

2009-10-05T20:04:09.180-06:00

I got excited seeing Tootsie mentioned and then my heart just went into pure sentimental mode when I saw you list Henry Fonda. I love love loved On Golden Pond. I am interested in checking out Father - thanks for introducing it to me! And thanks for joining in the Monday Movie Meme. Stop by any time.

Yes, most reviews of The Angel's Game have bee...

2009-10-05T14:53:40.582-06:00

Yes, most reviews of The Angel's Game have been so completely idiotic. It just seems people are unable to understand, and appreciate, the book. It is a darker and more complex read than shadow of the wind, one that demands that the reader participates and actually thinks rather than just sit there. It seems like Zafon may have overestimated his readers and produced a too ambitious and complex novel. I loved it and liked it even more than shadow of the wind, if that is possible. It is pure genius, and sadly, for what it seems, not fit for the "reading club" market.

Kramer vs Kramer...great movie. Monday Movie Meme

Heather: yeah, some of them are those obscure :) E...

2009-10-05T12:10:02.682-06:00

Heather: yeah, some of them are those obscure :) European art movies I tend to watch :D

Although as far as I remember Kolya was nominated (or even won??) for an Academy Award in the Foreign Film category (which is one of the categories that is decided by experts and not hype). Festen is a Dogma-movie, directed by Lars von Trier; Fanny and Alexander is directed by Ingmar Bergman (I guess I don't have to introduce him, although this movie is not a typical Bergman one, can be consumed by a much wider audience as well), and the rest of them are either American movies or had a great success in the US (Life is Beautiful for instance).

You are right - I should have written some words with the titles, and I will next time I promise!

You listed a few I've not heard of but Kram...

2009-10-05T11:52:16.467-06:00
You listed a few I've not heard of but Kramer vs. Kramer and On Golden Pond are excellent choices! My list is HERE.

Thanks for this review. I've seen the movie, ...

2009-09-13T18:30:04.205-06:00
Thanks for this review. I've seen the movie, never read the book and have been thinking of reading it for Banned Books Week.

Laurel, thank you very much! I truly enjoyed readi...

2009-09-11T06:59:51.435-06:00
Laurel, thank you very much! I truly enjoyed reading DQ.

Kinga, your review is truly beautiful!

2009-09-10T19:02:45.933-06:00
Kinga, your review is truly beautiful!

Hazra: whoa! I wish I had read a 1000+ page adult ...

2009-09-06T11:01:29.907-06:00
Hazra: whoa! I wish I had read a 1000+ page adult fiction at grade 6... I am envious.

True enough, I was introduced to adult fiction quite early: I was 13 when I read The End of the Road by John Barth, as my first piece of "serious lit". (I grew up with several thousand books, my liberal mom and dad's enormous library and they treated us as partners as for literature and reading.)

I read this when I was in Class 6. I really must p...

2009-09-06T09:56:35.511-06:00
I read this when I was in Class 6. I really must pick it up again; I remember next to nothing of the story.