The Concrete - Softcover

Abbott, Daniel

4.49 out of 5 stars

51 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 163246070X ISBN 13: 9781632460707

Publisher: Ig Publishing, 2018

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Set in an impoverished area of Grand Rapids, Michigan, the novel follows the Carters and their foster sons, Isaac and Miles. The two boys share a dark past, though neither of them are aware of it. As the boys try to escape the grim reality of the violent streets―in different ways―Isaac through basketball, Miles though music―the novel shifts back and forth in time, in the process revealing the story of an entangled community plagued by trauma and death, trying to confront the ghosts of its past, and seize a better life.

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About the Author

Daniel Abbott is the author of The Concrete, published in May 2018 by Ig Books. His work has appeared in Lit Hub, the Noctua Review, the Ginosko Literary Journal, and the Owen Wister Review. Daniel lives with his family in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Review

"Every few years, if we're lucky, there comes along that rare novel that feels dictated from the very pulse of the times in which we live, the one that pulls us in and won't let go, and when we're finished, we feel the urgent need to spread the news about it far and wide and right away. Daniel Abbott's The Concrete is that novel. Written in a street-wise yet deeply compassionate voice, this mesmerizing narrative takes us into the lives of men, women, and children who are trying to survive any way they can, fighting the demons of addiction and violence along the way, taking part in the "flesh game", trying to love and be loved and do the right thing, even when they sometimes don't. This is a heartbreakingly beautiful novel, an honest work of art, and it heralds the debut of a remarkable and important young American novelist."

---Andre Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog

"The Concrete, Daniel Abbott's searing debut novel, marks the introduction of a fresh, exciting, and important voice to the American literary landscape. Filled with uncommon insights into the human heart, this gritty, brave, redemptive novel tells truths we all need to hear."

---Connie May Fowler, author of Before Women Had Wings

"The Concrete grabbed me, shook me, and didn't let go. Abbott's characters are all fighters because they have to be: their neighborhood doesn't offer any easy lives, or easy wins. The triumphs here are hard fought and hard won--and often, painfully, hard lost. This is a fearless, unflinching debut."

---Caitlin Horrocks, author of This is Not Your City

"Daniel Abbott's novel has more body and soul, more swagger and sin, more beauty and brokenness, more pain and more love than another dozen brilliant debuts put together. To borrow a phrase from hoops, Abbott leaves it all on the floor--which is to say, the concrete. He's written this gorgeous, dark, healing book like someone's life might depend on it."

---Ellen Lesser, author of The Shoplifter's Apprentice

"Daniel Abbott writes with authority about the hardscrabble realities of inner city life. With unflinching honesty he explores those souls trapped in darkness and their sometimes heroic struggle to recapture the light. In this strong and gritty novel, Abbott establishes himself as a striking new voice in American fiction."

---Clint McCown, author of Haints

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