The Writer's Life 5/22 - Unpossessed

Jon Fasman, the son of immigrants, was educated at Brown University and Oxford, and worked as a journalist before turning to fiction, a track so many before him have taken. He has been published in the NY Times and its magazine and Slate. I just finished the second of his two novels, The Unpossessed City. It is the story of a young American suburbanite whose parents escaped the Soviet Union. He incurs a gambling debt he cannot pay off immediately, which leads him to take a job in Moscow as a researcher delving into the memories of citizens who were imprisoned. The plot, which is put on hold for long stretches, involves kidnappings. It is not nearly as interesting as the glimpses of the changing city, a decade and a half after the fall of communism (published 2008). It smacks of authenticity. Fasman lived and worked in Moscow for a time. The main character relishes the challenges the city demands: “…the extremes of brutality and warmth…the way the city and its people nurtured their scars; the salutary effects of difference, of being forced to figure out and to improvise rather than taking life and its patterns for granted; the lusts unleashed after decades of repression; the honest vibrancy…” And later: “A very Russian answer: the world is irredeemably fallen and the natural tendency is for everything to go wrong, but only a fool ever expects anything else, and I am no fool.” How accurate is the portrayal? In the acknowledgments Fasman states: “Ordinary makes bad copy.” And he admits to having never met any U.S. government officials stationed in Moscow. These tempered my enthusiasm. Still, the book offers an absorbing look at a city in transition. Eleven readers have rated the book at Amazon, forging to a consensus of 4.5 of five. I say 3.5. It is a tad over-written and there were instances where I couldn't quite grasp the author's thoughts, but anyone interested in that mysterious part of the world would likely find it worthwhile. It is 336 pages.

My thanks to the kind folks who made purchases and donations today, especially the couple who now acquire books strictly through Kindle. As soon as the woman said it I asked if she would mind a little self-promotion on my part. I showed her my books and wrote my name on a piece of paper, hoping she'll seek my Amazon author page. As far as I know, the Lady Eve is the only reader to have followed up on my sales pitch on the street. She has downloaded four of my works. That sense of futility, of bucking the odds, is relentless and must always be overcome.

Vic's 5th Novel: http://tinyurl.com/okxkwh5Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tinyurl.com/l84h63j

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/