Faraway Places (14 page)

Tom Spanbauer
Author of
Now is the Hour

TITLE ESSAY INCLUDED IN
BEST AMERICAN ESSAYS 2006

501 Minutes to Christ

Poe Ballantine

Essays / 174pp / $13.95 / 0-9766311-9-9

This collection of personal essays ranges from Ballantine's diabolical plan to punch John Irving in the nose during a literary festival, to the tale of how after years of sacrifice and persistence, Ballantine finally secured a contract with a major publisher for a short story collection that never came to fruition.

“My soul yearns to know this most entangled enigma. I confess to Thee, O Lord, that I really have no idea what Poe Ballantine is talking about.”

St. Augustine

WINNER, BRONZE
: FOREWORD'S BOOK OF THE YEAR FOR LITERARY FICTION

Decline of the Lawrence Welk Empire

Poe Ballantine

Fiction / 376pp / $15.95 / 0-9766311-1-3

Edgar Donahoe is back for another misadventure, this time in the Caribbean. When he becomes involved with his best friend's girl and is stalked by murderous island native Chollie Legion, even Cinnamon Jim, the medicine man, is no help—it takes a hurricane to blow Edgar out of the mess.

“This second novel … initially conjures images of
Lord of the Flies
, but then you would have to add about ten years to the protagonists' ages and make them sex-crazed, gold-seeking alcoholics.”

Library Journal

God Clobbers Us All

Poe Ballantine

Fiction / 196pp / $15.95 / 0-9716915-4-1

Set against a decaying San Diego rest home in the 1970s,
God Clobbers Us All
is the shimmering, hysterical, melancholy account of eighteen-year-old surfer-boy/orderly Edgar Donahoe, who struggles with romance, death, friendship, and an ill-advised affair with the wife of a maladjusted war veteran.

“Calmer than Bukowski, less portentous than Kerouac, more hopeful than West, Poe Ballantine may not be sitting at the table of his mentors, but perhaps he deserves his own after all.”

San Diego Union-Tribune

Things I Like About America

Poe Ballantine

Essays / 266pp / $12.95 / 0-9716915-1-7

These risky personal essays are populated with odd jobs, eccentric characters, boarding houses, buses, and beer. Written with piercing intimacy and self-effacing humor, they take us on a Greyhound journey through small-town America and explore what it means to be human.

“Part social commentary, part collective biography, this guided tour may not be comfortable, but one thing's for sure: You will be at home.”

Willamette Week

WINNER
, 2005 LANGUM PRIZE FOR HISTORICAL FICTION

Madison House

Peter Donahue

Fiction / 528pp / $16.95 / 0-9766311-0-5

This novel chronicles Victorian Seattle's explosive transformation from frontier outpost to metropolis. Maddie Ingram, owner of Madison House, and her quirky and endearing boarders find their lives linked when the city decides to regrade Denny Hill and the fate of their home hangs in the balance.

“Peter Donahue seems to have a map of old Seattle in his head… And all future attempts in its historical vein will be made in light of this book.”

David Guterson
Author of
Snow Falling on Cedars