And Then

We are pleased to add Donald Breckenridge to the Black Sparrow list. Readers of Perec and French New Wave Cinema will revel in his haunting take on the traditional ghost story. Christopher Sorrentino, National Book Award finalist for The Fugitives, says “I was moved and often startled by And Then; a brown study of the hold the dead maintain over the living, of yearning, memory and regret. The writing is vivid, direct, clear; always surprising, always a pleasure to read.” Breckenridge takes readers on a hypnotically broken journey, chronicling his father’s slow and deliberate death, interweaving the stories of others: a young woman’s hopeful arrival in New York City, a young man’s voyeuristic summer spent housesitting for his professor, and a soldier who never made it out of Vietnam. What they all have in common is a deep preoccupation with the way lives resonate and connect, an emotionally honest love story about how we relate to others and ourselves. The work of a mature writer, And Then will be treasured by readers who look to literature to find solace and meaning in trying times.