Fiction
Cover art by by Pamela Lawton
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mysteries and noir so often shape the content of prose experiments (Joyelle McSweeney's
Flet, Chris Kraus's Summer of Hate/Catt: Her Killer, all the way back to
George Perec's La disparition). How do these tropes stay powerful? ----->Jacket 2
about a funeral. The narrative is held together—delicately—by the dangling threads between the characters,
who are detached emotionally, but connected literally, thematically, and genitally: Marina sleeps with Ivan
who sleeps with Judith who sleeps with Harry who sleeps with Marina with whom Judith
wants to sleep. ----> Robin Becker in The Brooklyn Rail
As I progressed through A Place In The Sun, it became increasingly apparent that everyone
craved sexual intimacy, quite often in dubious circumstances, the “forbidden fruit” dynamic at
full play. I thought of Freud’s Civilization And Its Discontents and its central premise of desire
versus propriety. One way or another, what we want, what we really want, is either against the
law, or our personal code of conduct. Why else do we revere rock stars so much? When the
Rolling Stones sang “I can’t get no satisfaction” some 45 years ago, they were summing up
the human condition. --->John Olson at tillalala.com
throughout six brilliantly deconstructed, high action stories. In the opener, "The Russians," Warsh's
razor sharp attention to detail creates a startling sense of intimacy with the characters: Irene is brutally
raped and murdered while her friend Marina is bound to a chair. Portraits of the women as lovers in Russia
emerge in tandem with the conflicted erotic relationship that develops between Marina and the detective
who rescues her. Another highlight is the titular story, "A Place in the Sun," which brings iconic figures of
Hollywood's golden years into stark contrast with their respective legends. Elizabeth Taylor falls in love
with Monty Clift when they star together in the film of the title. Despite his drug addiction, Monty takes
his profession very seriously while Liz's naïve vanity will not allow her to fathom that any man could
reject her, or that Monty could be interested in others-men included. Warsh's sense of immediacy adds
power to a book in which the storylines and the clean precise prose are equally riveting. Publishers Weekly
In weaving together the cold, explicit facts, gossipy rumors and largely sexual fantasies of the lives of Clift,
Taylor, and Drieser, Lewis Warsh creates a tripartite threnody of its own genuine American tragedy, the off-screen,
off-page dark truths hidden beneath the drab, glittering surface crust of American life. William Carlos Williams
wrote in “To Elsie”: “The pure products of America go crazy....” Warsh has captured that in mimicking a sensationalized
tabloid voice of a 1950s Confidential mag’s hot, breathless prose, and taking a transcendent leap from that gossip
and rumor into one of the “great poems of death” Walt Whitman exhorted American poets to write. Michael Rumaker
A deeply engrossing book, I couldn’t put it down. And now that I’ve finished reading it, I can’t put it away, for how it
furthers my thinking of the genre itself. A Place In The Sun beautifully combines the high action and salaciousness
of page-turners, with the self-reflection and risk-taking of post-modern fiction. It’s a must-read and a must-study.
Renee Gladman
Lewis Warsh brings his poet’s sensibility to a mash up of literary and genre fiction techniques—including constantly
shifting perspectives and unexpected interconnections—to create an intriguingly compelling and deeply satisfying
reading experience. I loved it. Michael Lally
A Place in the Sun is a beautifully rendered and expertly deconstructed novel. Warsh’s stunningly effective use of
multiple narratives, provided in exquisitely detailed lines, conveys an elastic and powerful emotional honesty. This is
a sensual and desperate story from a writer with formidable powers of invention. Donald Breckenridge
The Origin of the World, Touch of the Whip, A Free Man, Avenue of Escape and Ted’s Favorite Skirt.
He is the coeditor of The Angel Hair Anthology, editor and publisher of United Artists Books, and
director of the MFA program in creative writing at Long Island University in Brooklyn. Inseparable:
Poems 1995-2005, was published by Granary Books in 2008.
Pamela Lawton’s recent solo exhibitions include a painting installation at 180 Maiden Lane,
NYC, and a one-person show at the Conde Nast building, NYC, in October of 2009. Other solo
shows include the Galeria Nacional in Costa Rica; White Box Gallery’s project space, NYC; and
Galeria Isabel Ignacio, Spain. She is currently on the faculty of the New School, and is the founding
director of Making Art Everywhere, a non-profit organization that has worked in Afghanistan,
Sri Lanka, and Mississippi. More of her work can be seen at www.pamelalawton.com.