Author Archives: SJW

The Odds: One of NPR’s Favorite Books of 2012

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npr-books-logo-colorThe Odds was picked as one of Maureen Corrigan’s favorite books of 2012:

That dazed-and-confused trend kicked off in January with Stewart O’Nan’s novella, The Odds, about a middle-aged, unemployed couple about to divorce in order to protect what little assets they have left. First, though, Marion and Art Fowler book a deluxe suite at one of the honeymoon hotels in Niagara Falls and get ready to gamble their remaining cash at the hotel casino. O’Nan’s go-for-broke literary style — by turns elegant and ruefully funny — rivets readers to the fateful spin of that roulette wheel.

[listen to podcast or read more]

The Speed Queen at the Off the Wall Theater

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Limited run – three nights only!

December 6-8, 2012 [get tickets]

Written and performed by Anne Stockton

Directed by Austin Pendleton

Based on the novel by Stewart O’Nan

Convicted murderer Marjorie Standiford has agreed to spend her last hours on Death Row talking into a tape recorder, answering questions posed by a celebrated author about her involvement in a killing spree, her drug addiction, wild sex life, and why she is where she is.

Adapted from the novel by Stewart O’Nan and starring Anne Stockton, this harrowing one-woman tour de force won for Outstanding Performance – Solo Show at the 2007 NYC Midtown International Theater Festival.

“…both satisfying and frightening…she’s captured Marjorie’s innocence and insanity.”

Stewart O’Nan, Author

“Performed by the remarkable Anne Stockton… this is a daring piece of theater. Austin Pendleton has directed the play with a keen understanding of the humanity within the monster.”

The Siegel Column

Read the preview at the Post-Gazette

Photos from the Brattleboro Literary Festival

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All photos courtesy Beowulf Sheehan, from the Brattleboro Literary Festival.

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Thirteen Days of Halloween at Cemetery Dance: Monsters

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Monsters: A Halloween Short Story
by Stewart O’Nan

About the eBook:
They were going to be monsters, for the church—Creatures from the Black Lagoon. Mark and his best friend Derek would each get to wear a suit with a zipper up the back and a head that fit like a diving helmet. They could scare the little kids and gross out the girls. No one would know who they were. But a backyard accident ensures this Halloween will be even more memorable than the young boys expect. Their friendship will never be the same…

“A quietly brilliant story with its own singular darkness.”
—Paula Guran, The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy and Horror

(This year Cemetery Dance Publications is gathering a collection of the horror genre’s finest authors to pay tribute to our favorite holiday.  Watch for the other stories in the series by Joe R. Lansdale, Stewart O’Nan, Ray Garton, Simon Clark, Norman Prentiss, Kealan Patrick Burke, Ed Gorman, Lisa Morton, Brian James Freeman, and many others.)

[buy the ebook]

Book Fight – Episode 18: Theodore Weesner, The True Detective

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Check out the podcast featuring Theodore Weesner’s The True Detective at Book Fight:

We welcome special guest Stewart O’Nan, author of The Odds, Last Night at the Lobster, A Prayer for the Dying, and many, many more, to discuss a book he calls “a great American novel no one has read.” Theodore Weesner’s The True Detective tells the story of a child’s abduction from multiple perspectives: the family of the victim, the kidnapper, and the detective attempting to break the case. But this isn’t your run-of-the-mill procedural; instead the book seeks to mine the the complicated emotional terrain of its characters, exploring how they’re affected by this web of tragedy.

[mp3] & [iTunes]