The Quitters

I acquired this book almost 2 years ago when I visited the publisher's table at the annual AWP Conference. (They were at the time considering a manuscript of mine that they ultimately passed on, but no worries, it found another home.) The author of this book was at the table during my visit and he was engaging, the book had an attractive cover (call me shallow), and it never hurts to buy a book from a publisher you might work with later, so I bought it. I buy more books than I can read, so it went into a pile in my study until last week, when I moved some books around and revealed this one. I decided to finally read it.

It's terrific. It is described as creative essays, but I gather they are more or less true. The deal with the author's time as an MMA fighter, move into attempts to learn archery, watching roller derby, and finally being an adjunct composition teacher. The language throughout is fresh, which is what makes the book a winner for me, but also most of the situations (adjuncting aside) are fresh as well.

It's not a long read (I'd tell you how many pages it has, but the pages aren't numbered!), and you can probably get through it in an afternoon. It's worth it!