Tearjerker: A Novel - Softcover

Hayes, Daniel

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1555974090 ISBN 13: 9781555974091

Publisher: Graywolf Press, 2004

Synopsis

Unhinged by years of rejection letters, an author plots a wild scheme to gain an editor's undivided attention

Until I bought one, I'd never touched a gun, never stood in front of a full-length mirror pointing a gun at myself. Bang, bang. Mine was a Magnum .357 purchased in New Jersey, much more svelte than I'd imagined a gun could be.

Evan Ulmer takes matters into his own hands after his writerly dreams of fame and recognition have stalled. He kidnaps renowned editor Robert Partnow and cages him in a basement equipped with a TV, a treadmill, and a Porta-John. Evan shares his desperation with Bob, Bob reveals his own unsavory secrets, and together they watch the media spin this situation into a lurid tale of abduction and infidelity. Blurring the boundaries between fiction and real life, cunning and sincerity, flirtation and true love, Tearjerker unfolds in startling directions that make the reader wonder along with Evan, "Was abduction a difficult and gutsy endeavor or, instead, the predictable last resort of the desperately stupid?"

In this darkly humorous debut novel, Daniel Hayes explores the human reality behind the tabloid headlines and the pathos of failure and yearning in a culture of high-stakes celebrity.

About this title

About the Author:

Daniel Hayes is the author of Kissing You, a collection of short stories. He lives in San Francisco.

From Publishers Weekly:

The passions that animate writers take zany shape in this playful metafictional debut novel by the author of the short story collection Kissing You. Evan Ulmer, an anxious writer desperate for literary success, is sick of having his stories rejected by busy publishers. Growing impatient, he abducts Robert Partnow, an esteemed book editor he read about in Publisher's Weekly, and locks him up in a basement designed for maximum comfort. There, Partnow is forced to listen to the many failures of the struggling writer, and captor and captive gradually develop a wary relationship based on honesty and loneliness. Meanwhile, the zealous media coverage of Partnow's disappearance brings to light a few of the editor's own failings and forces the duo to reevaluate their respective positions. When Ulmer isn't talking shop with his hostage, he's falling for Promise, an affection-starved writer with similar pen-in-hand ambitions. It's a nudge from Promise that finally turns the tables on Ulmer, ushering in the startling, satisfying denouement. In deadpan, witty prose embroidered with nervous detail, Hayes offers a deft, pointed look at the writing life and the fine line between ambition and delusion.
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About this edition

• Publisher: Graywolf Press
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1555974090
• ISBN 13: 9781555974091
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 184