Raven Book Store in Lawrence, KS is one of the most
successful, respected, independent bookstores in this region. I am so delight
that after meeting with its owner, Heidi Raak, she has decided to carry three
of my titles.
Book Number 1 Crazy About You is my most popular
novel. It's a coming-of-age story and so much more. I really did grow up on the
grounds of Larned State Hospital because my father was the dentist for that mental hospital and the state provided us free housing. Here is one Amazon five-star
review:
By Mark
Shoup
If the
folks over at the New York Times Review of Books are looking for fresh novels
by other than established writers or well-connected new ones, they should dust
off their keyboards and surf over to Amazon, where they'll find an astonishing
new novel by Randy Attwood.
Crazy About You is set in the most unlikely of
places, in and around a state mental institution in west central Kansas.
Attwood's protagonist, a high school student nearing the end of his junior
year, is at once naïve and wise beyond his age. These qualities, combined with
growing up on the "asylum" where is father works, have created within
him a gut-wrenching combination of empathy and Everyman's selfishness that
shape him forever and come to a head during one wildly dramatic week when his
father and estranged mother are out of town.
Given the
protagonist's years, one might dismiss this as a coming-of-age story. It is
not. Less a psychological thriller than a psychiatric adventure, the novel
fearlessly reveals ways in which human beings face their choices and emotions
and those of others -- from loyalty and deceit to cruelty, despair, and joy --
things we all sometimes learn to deal with but never totally control. It is at
once gripping, brutal, and tender.
Crazy About You defies categorization, but suffice
to say that those looking for pure excitement and good story telling will not
be disappointed. Nor will those who thrive on the deeper layers of
psychological tension. Although the novel often deals with forces out of the
protagonist's control, it also tackles tough moral choices that indelibly shape
our lives, all within the context of a fantastical drama that will leave the
reader musing for days. But ultimately, this is a story about absolution. If
you have not laughed out loud often and shed a few tears by the end, you'd
better see a shrink.
(I donate $1 of every sale of Crazy About You to Headquarters Counseling Center in Lawrence
because those good folks work the suicide prevention hotline for this part of
the country.)
Book Number 2 Then and Now: The Harmony of the Instantaneous All
Set in that
turbulent spring of 1970 in Lawrence.
Another five star Amazon review:
If you
were alive during the late 1960s, then you will totally relate to this story.
If you were not alive then, chances are pretty good you have heard about the
60s all your life, most likely from your own parents. Well, here is your chance
to immerse yourself into the world of the late 1960s, on one of the most
beautiful and respected college campuses in the nation--the Kansas University
at Lawrence, Kansas. Yet this story is not unique to KU, but very typical of
the social revolution that took the youth of this country, and around the
world, to challenge and defy the "man" . . . government of all forms.
As a heady blend of drugs, acid, jazz, rock & roll, sex, the draft,
Vietnam, and many other issues compelled them into the ubiquitous search for
"it" . . . whatever "it" was . . . as well as the search
for the "self" too--whatever that is. Or, long-hair hippies
"just doing their thing" --whatever that is, yet, as one character
says, "I really think something new is going on. Maybe it's a return to
good old American pragmatism, utilitarianism and individuality. That's what `do
your own thing' really means." And another character, Dan, commented,
"You know, from the coalescence of these kinds of diverse elements . . .
revolutionary progress is made." This was a transformative time that left
a lasting mark globally that is still being felt to this day. The author
recreates this era faithfully, with the sensitivity and insights available only
to someone who was there. Yet, even more, woven within the chaos and
pandemonium brewing on the campus is a tender love affair that emerges at the very
heart and core of this story . . . and it takes you places you do not expect,
nor could even imagine. This is the third book by this author that I have read.
Each was very unique and entertaining, as well as thought provoking in a way
that stayed with you for days after reading. Plus, each book by Attwood has
shared one common thread--his gift for creating a "cast" of diverse
and interesting characters, and then weaves their lives together in a
plausible, and realistic series of events, toward the most unpredictable and so
often amazing outcomes. I look forward to my next read of this author's books
and highly recommend you do too.
Book Number 3 The41st Sermon
Walker Percy fans, pay attention. I sent the first few
chapters of this novel about a Episcopal priest at midlife and mid-faith crisis
to Walker Percy and he read and sent me a not telling me to send him the rest.
Send him the rest I did and waited and waited. Six months later I read his obit
in The Kansas City Star. Reprint of that note is in the opening pages of The 41st Sermon.
Here's a review from Katy Sozaeva, a top 500 Amazon
reviewer:
Father
Christopher Talley, an Episcopalian priest, spends a week each year at a resort
in the Ozarks. This gives him a chance to escape the constraints of his life as
a minister - to fish, to drink, and to spend some time with a woman other than
his wife. He also writes his sermons for the coming year. This year, while at
the resort, he runs across one of his parishioners, the lovely Molly, who says
she is thinking of divorcing her husband and has come to the resort to think
about things. That isn't why she is there, of course - but she's bored and
decides to seduce her handsome pastor.
This was a
strange story - Randy asked if I could assign a genre to it, but honestly, I
can't think of any genre it fits into neatly. There is a bit of mild erotica,
there are definitely lots of different themes - finding yourself, redemption,
finding faith, learning what life is all about - but none that relates itself
to a specific genre other than general fiction. I really liked the book, though
- it had a lot of good things to say, and I thought the story was one in which
many people could find enjoyment, once they get past feeling shocked about some
of the issues that come up. I warn that you need to be open-minded about the
story, but if you are willing to do so, you should find something in here to
love.
