Today it is my pleasure to kick off the tour for Love Will Make You Drink and Gamble, Stay Out Late at Night by Shelly Lowenkopf, with a review and a giveaway.

Publisher: White Whisker Books (June 6, 2014)
Category: Short Stories, Literary Fiction
ISBN: 978-0-9836329-8-6
Tour Date: May/June, 2014
Available in: Print and ebook, 186 Pages

Love Will Make You Drink and Gamble, Stay Out Late at Night brings a number of Shelly Lowenkopf’s previously published short stories together in a single volume. All the stories revolve around life in Santa Barbara, the oceanside city north of Los Angeles, where people go after they’ve burned out in San Francisco and L.A. Yet there’s no safe haven anywhere. Interwoven into Santa Barbara’s picturesque setting, the people in these twelve stories reveal what their hearts and souls encounter in relationships. Their misreadings, mistakes, and misadventures bare what happens to people who love another.

“Shelly Lowenkopf’s short stories breathe gusts of fresh air into the often stuffy literary atmosphere,” says poet Charles Harper Webb (Liver). “Witty, urbane, sharply observed, insightful, mordant yet poignant and absolutely entertaining, these stories touch the funny bone as well as the heart. Readers have had to wait too long for this collection. Grab it now.”

“Shelly Lowenkopf is a gifted, humane story-teller,” adds author Aram Saroyan (Rancho Mirage). “Love Will Make You Drink and Gamble, Stay Out Late at Night is a delight.”

My Thoughts:

This is a great story collection!  I know I have said this before, but I think it is worth mentioning again.  There are many people who say they don’t like short stories.  My opinion is that short story is a true art form.  Reading a short is not the same as reading a novel.

Most short stories need to be approached more like a painting.  You can’t just look at it once and get the artist’s meaning.  You need to stare at it for awhile and take in all the layers and depth.  The same goes for a short story.  Many times you need to read it more than once and really think about it.

This is true with most of the stories in Love Will Make You Drink and Gamble, Stay Out Late at Night.  This collection is worth spending the time savouring the deep thoughts and meaning. It had me laughing, crying, and giving pause.

I howled out loud at ‘The Ability’ where a young woman was hire to write thank you notes to university donors and then was asked to do an even more difficult task. ‘The Man Within’ examines an ageing man’s life and what is acceptable and not.  This was one of those stories that is worth reading twice, digging for deeper meaning. These are just two examples of the range of emotions the stories in this collection examines.

Shelly Lowenkopf is a master story teller.  He paints words on paper like they are on canvas. Because of the depth and many layers of his stories, this collection would make an excellent book for a serious book club.  I highly recommend it!

5/5

I received the ebook version for my honest review.

About Shelly Lowenkopf:

Shelly Lowenkopf taught in the University of Southern California’s
Master of Professional Writing Program for 34 years, has taught at the annual Santa Barbara Writer’s Conference since 1980, and has been guest lecturer in many schools and conferences.

He is currently Visiting Professor at the College of Creative Studies, University of California, Santa Barbara, with classes in noir fiction, the modern short story, genre fiction, and developing a literary voice. Mr. Lowenkopf has served as editorial director for literary, general trade, mass market, and scholarly book publishers, seeing over 500 books through the editorial and production process. His own short fiction has appeared widely in the literary press. He is author of the popular The Fiction Writer’s Handbook.

Website: http://www.lowenkopf.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/lowenkopf 
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/shelly.lowenkopf

This giveaway is open internationally however, print is only available to Canada and the U.S. This giveaway ends on June 20, 2014.
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