Contrary Motion

A Novel

Fiction & Literature, Family Life, Humorous, Literary
Cover of the book Contrary Motion by Andy Mozina, Random House Publishing Group
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Andy Mozina ISBN: 9780812998290
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group Publication: March 8, 2016
Imprint: Spiegel & Grau Language: English
Author: Andy Mozina
ISBN: 9780812998290
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Publication: March 8, 2016
Imprint: Spiegel & Grau
Language: English

By turns hilarious and bittersweet, Andy Mozina’s winning debut novel introduces a charming new hero for our times: a dysfunctional, divorced family man whose passion for life comes straight from the harp.
 
Matthew Grzbc is a talented musician who plays the concert harp. He is a divorced dad who lives in Chicago, has a sexy girlfriend, and has a major, potentially life-changing audition with an orchestra on the horizon. At least that’s how he appears on paper. But take a closer look and a very different man starts to emerge: an obsessive, self-sabotaging Midwesterner, fumbling through his relationship with his curiously neurotic six-year-old daughter and headed for destruction in his romantic life by grasping at any remotely affectionate warm body, including that of his ex-wife. Instead of playing to sold-out concert halls, he spends his days plucking out “Send in the Clowns” at hotel brunches, and his weekends serenading the captive audience at the local hospice.
 
When his father dies unexpectedly (while listening to a meditation tape), Matt’s life begins to come untethered. In quick succession his ex-wife gets engaged, his girlfriend begins to pull away, and his daughter starts acting out. With his audition rapidly approaching, Matt is paralyzed by panic—why can’t he hold it together and follow his dream? And what does that even mean, if you’re not sure what it is you really want?
 
Funny, poignant, and thoroughly engaging, Contrary Motion is a journey deep inside a male mind as it searches—desperately—for a way to balance life, love, and a harp.
 
Praise for Contrary Motion
 
“Mozina’s finely detailed, painfully funny novel is a rollicking performance that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.”Booklist (starred review)
*** ***
“Mozina has created a likeable, believable main character, the sort of guy alongside whom you could easily spend hours dissecting life over a couple of beers. It’s the first novel for Mozina, . . . and it’s sure to leave readers asking for more. Mozina’s storytelling is easy and humorous, taking the stuff of everyday life and presenting it in a way that both entertains and draws out emotion.”BookPage

“Standing between world-class harpist Matt Grzbc and his dream, a permanent position in a top orchestra, is just about everybody in his life. This brilliant debut novel zigzags across Chicago’s neighborhoods, exploring the obsession a striving artist must have for his craft, as he also makes a living and nourishes those near him, especially his eccentric and precocious six-year-old daughter. Contrary Motion is a wonderful story—beautifully written, hilarious, tortured, and filled with heavenly music.”—Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of National Book Award finalist American Salvage
 
“Charming . . . The painfully self-aware Matt has a great sense of humor, but his comic insights don’t help him much as he faces a confounding array of personal problems. . . . The pleasures of [Mozina’s] writing never flag.”Kirkus Reviews
 
“No portrait of an artist brings alive vulnerability, hilarity, desperation, hipness, absurdity, and painful steadfastness as splendidly as Andy Mozina’s Contrary Motion. A dazzling, unforgettable novel.”—Mark Wisniewski, author of Watch Me Go

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

By turns hilarious and bittersweet, Andy Mozina’s winning debut novel introduces a charming new hero for our times: a dysfunctional, divorced family man whose passion for life comes straight from the harp.
 
Matthew Grzbc is a talented musician who plays the concert harp. He is a divorced dad who lives in Chicago, has a sexy girlfriend, and has a major, potentially life-changing audition with an orchestra on the horizon. At least that’s how he appears on paper. But take a closer look and a very different man starts to emerge: an obsessive, self-sabotaging Midwesterner, fumbling through his relationship with his curiously neurotic six-year-old daughter and headed for destruction in his romantic life by grasping at any remotely affectionate warm body, including that of his ex-wife. Instead of playing to sold-out concert halls, he spends his days plucking out “Send in the Clowns” at hotel brunches, and his weekends serenading the captive audience at the local hospice.
 
When his father dies unexpectedly (while listening to a meditation tape), Matt’s life begins to come untethered. In quick succession his ex-wife gets engaged, his girlfriend begins to pull away, and his daughter starts acting out. With his audition rapidly approaching, Matt is paralyzed by panic—why can’t he hold it together and follow his dream? And what does that even mean, if you’re not sure what it is you really want?
 
Funny, poignant, and thoroughly engaging, Contrary Motion is a journey deep inside a male mind as it searches—desperately—for a way to balance life, love, and a harp.
 
Praise for Contrary Motion
 
“Mozina’s finely detailed, painfully funny novel is a rollicking performance that will keep readers on the edge of their seats.”Booklist (starred review)
*** ***
“Mozina has created a likeable, believable main character, the sort of guy alongside whom you could easily spend hours dissecting life over a couple of beers. It’s the first novel for Mozina, . . . and it’s sure to leave readers asking for more. Mozina’s storytelling is easy and humorous, taking the stuff of everyday life and presenting it in a way that both entertains and draws out emotion.”BookPage

“Standing between world-class harpist Matt Grzbc and his dream, a permanent position in a top orchestra, is just about everybody in his life. This brilliant debut novel zigzags across Chicago’s neighborhoods, exploring the obsession a striving artist must have for his craft, as he also makes a living and nourishes those near him, especially his eccentric and precocious six-year-old daughter. Contrary Motion is a wonderful story—beautifully written, hilarious, tortured, and filled with heavenly music.”—Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of National Book Award finalist American Salvage
 
“Charming . . . The painfully self-aware Matt has a great sense of humor, but his comic insights don’t help him much as he faces a confounding array of personal problems. . . . The pleasures of [Mozina’s] writing never flag.”Kirkus Reviews
 
“No portrait of an artist brings alive vulnerability, hilarity, desperation, hipness, absurdity, and painful steadfastness as splendidly as Andy Mozina’s Contrary Motion. A dazzling, unforgettable novel.”—Mark Wisniewski, author of Watch Me Go

More books from Random House Publishing Group

Cover of the book Almost Innocent by Andy Mozina
Cover of the book Forgotten by Andy Mozina
Cover of the book Twenty-one Days by Andy Mozina
Cover of the book A Christmas Homecoming by Andy Mozina
Cover of the book Ruin: Star Wars Legends (The New Jedi Order: Dark Tide, Book II) by Andy Mozina
Cover of the book One Tree Hunks by Andy Mozina
Cover of the book Open House by Andy Mozina
Cover of the book Patterns of Force: Star Wars Legends (Coruscant Nights, Book III) by Andy Mozina
Cover of the book The Perennial Killer by Andy Mozina
Cover of the book No Rest for the Dove by Andy Mozina
Cover of the book Devil's Cut by Andy Mozina
Cover of the book Sons of Thunder by Andy Mozina
Cover of the book The Lesson of Her Death by Andy Mozina
Cover of the book Marshmallows for Breakfast by Andy Mozina
Cover of the book Ill Will by Andy Mozina
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy