{"id":5436,"date":"2014-03-12T13:58:37","date_gmt":"2014-03-12T13:58:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/?p=5436"},"modified":"2014-07-06T22:51:16","modified_gmt":"2014-07-06T22:51:16","slug":"coming-soon-one-hundred-miles-from-manhattan-a-modern-novel-by-chris-orcutt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/coming-soon-one-hundred-miles-from-manhattan-a-modern-novel-by-chris-orcutt\/","title":{"rendered":"One Hundred Miles from Manhattan\u2014A Modern Novel by Chris Orcutt"},"content":{"rendered":"

Recent\u00adly I com\u00adplet\u00aded work on a book that began as a col\u00adlec\u00adtion of sto\u00adries, and which end\u00aded up being what I term a \u201cmod\u00adern nov\u00adel.\u201d The book is now with my ebook for\u00admat\u00adter, Lisa DeSpain<\/a>, and, bar\u00adring unfore\u00adseen com\u00adpli\u00adca\u00adtions, will be avail\u00adable for pur\u00adchase some\u00adtime in the next cou\u00adple of weeks.<\/p>\n

The title of the nov\u00adel is One Hun\u00addred Miles from<\/em> Man\u00adhat\u00adtan<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em> It tells the sto\u00adry of a fic\u00adtion\u00adal wealthy com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty in Upstate New York, where the vil\u00adlage and the sur\u00adround\u00ading rolling hills con\u00adceal tales of love, lust, tragedy and small wars.<\/p>\n

\"Cover<\/a>

Cov\u00ader by Elis\u00ada\u00adbeth Pinio. *Pho\u00adto cred\u00adits and per\u00admis\u00adsions at bot\u00adtom of this page.<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The nov\u00adel pro\u00advides glimpses into the lives of wealthy \u201chill\u00adtop\u00adpers\u201d and mod\u00adest town\u00adies. There are lav\u00adish estates, hors\u00ades, guns, Wellies, week\u00adenders, Range Rovers, red\u00adheads, con\u00adtrac\u00adtors, a coun\u00adtry club, a train line, a din\u00ader and much more.<\/p>\n

Now, some of you might be won\u00adder\u00ading why I call One Hun\u00addred Miles from<\/em> Man\u00adhat\u00adtan<\/em><\/strong> a \u201cmod\u00adern nov\u00adel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, because it\u2019s told from 10 dif\u00adfer\u00adent points of view, and because the time\u00adline is seg\u00adment\u00aded.<\/p>\n

\"FourBasi\u00adcal\u00adly, you know how the movie Pulp Fic\u00adtion<\/em> is one sto\u00adry, but it\u2019s chopped up and the scenes are pre\u00adsent\u00aded out of order?<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what I do with this nov\u00adel. It\u2019s the sto\u00adry of one year in this com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty of Welling\u00adton, New York, but the events are pre\u00adsent\u00aded out of order. The book starts with a chap\u00adter that begins in the late spring\/early sum\u00admer, then goes to the ear\u00adly spring, then the fall, etc. It is not<\/em> in chrono\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal order.<\/p>\n

Each of the chap\u00adters is from the POV of a dif\u00adfer\u00adent char\u00adac\u00adter, and so we see a small part of Welling\u00adton through that char\u00adac\u00adter\u2019s eyes. Many char\u00adac\u00adters over\u00adlap between the chap\u00adters, and so do the events. The POV char\u00adac\u00adters include a tro\u00adphy wife, a med\u00adical doc\u00adtor, a sin\u00adgle moth\u00ader, a contractor\/local Casano\u00adva, and a Man\u00adhat\u00adtan book edi\u00adtor.<\/p>\n

\"jane-austen-pride-and-prejudice-book\"The rea\u00adson I wrote it this way is because as much as I admire the sin\u00adgle POV novel\u2014e.g., Pride & Prej\u00adu\u00addice<\/em>, The Catch\u00ader in the Rye<\/em>, and The Great Gats\u00adby<\/em>\u2014in today\u2019s ultra\u00admod\u00adern soci\u00adety, where every\u00adone<\/em> is a star (or con\u00adsid\u00aders him\u00adself one; Face\u00adbook, Foursquare, Insta\u00adgram, Twit\u00adter, Snapchat), every\u00adone\u2019s sto\u00adry or POV con\u00adtributes to the sto\u00adry as a whole. Nowa\u00addays, it does\u00adn\u2019t make sense that any one per\u00adson would be capa\u00adble of telling the com\u00adplete sto\u00adry of a town.<\/p>\n

Also, the com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty of Welling\u00adton, like some oth\u00ader wealthy com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties we know, is high\u00adly strat\u00adi\u00adfied, and there isn\u2019t a great deal of inter\u00adac\u00adtion between the wealthy and the poor, or even between the old mon\u00adey and the nou\u00adveau riche.<\/p>\n

I first got this idea of writ\u00ading a nov\u00adel about a wealthy com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty 22 years ago, back when I was a reporter in a small town sim\u00adi\u00adlar to Welling\u00adton. But at the time, I could only envi\u00adsion the sto\u00adry being told from the POV of the local reporter. I\u2019m so glad that I wait\u00aded to write this book, because I think the 10 points of view gives the read\u00ader a rich\u00ader, broad\u00ader expe\u00adri\u00adence of the town, and because 22 years ago, my writ\u00ading skills weren\u2019t even close to what they are now.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a brief excerpt from the nov\u00adel. In this scene, a Man\u00adhat\u00adtan book edi\u00adtor is dri\u00adving into Welling\u00adton for the first time, so we see this rar\u00adefied com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty through an out\u00adsider\u2019s eyes:<\/p>\n

\n

Although I\u2019d had sev\u00ader\u00adal authors from Welling\u00adton over the years, includ\u00ading a for\u00admer edi\u00adtor pal turned best\u00adselling mys\u00adtery nov\u00adel\u00adist, not one of them had deigned to invite me to so much as a cock\u00adtail par\u00adty up here. Creep\u00ading through the vil\u00adlage that Sat\u00adur\u00adday morn\u00ading in a rental car, I passed a shiny alu\u00adminum din\u00ader and myr\u00adi\u00adad antiques deal\u00aders and con\u00adtin\u00adued on through a ham\u00adlet mys\u00adte\u00adri\u00adous\u00adly called Rab\u00adbitsville (although I didn\u2019t see a sin\u00adgle rab\u00adbit to war\u00adrant the name). From there, I fol\u00adlowed sand\u00adwich boards point\u00ading to Fox Hill.<\/p>\n

The road rib\u00adboned out in front of me, over rolling green hills and miles of black wood\u00aden fence. The sky was a soft sum\u00admer blue. In the hol\u00adlows, pock\u00adets of thin fog hov\u00adered over the grass. The whole coun\u00adtry\u00adside had a vague\u00adly mys\u00adti\u00adcal aura, like Mr. Darcy\u2019s Der\u00adbyshire.<\/p>\n

Most of the dri\u00adve from Man\u00adhat\u00adtan, how\u00adev\u00ader, had been tedious. Dron\u00ading along the emp\u00adty and wood\u00aded Tacon\u00adic Park\u00adway, still half-asleep, I had start\u00aded to ques\u00adtion the wis\u00addom of trav\u00adel\u00ading two hours upstate for a young woman with whom I had done noth\u00ading but have inor\u00addi\u00adnate sex\u2014and that only in her favored cow\u00adgirl posi\u00adtion. To be fair, we had<\/i> man\u00adaged to squeeze in a few sub\u00adstan\u00adtial conversations\u2014about books (for a young woman of prodi\u00adgious sex\u00adu\u00adal appetites she was sur\u00adpris\u00ading\u00adly well-read, Chekhov\u2019s sto\u00adries being her favorites); about tech\u00adnol\u00ado\u00adgy (she embraced the use\u00adful, cit\u00ading her auto\u00admat\u00adic lights and a robot\u00adic vac\u00adu\u00adum clean\u00ader that per\u00adpet\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly crawled around the apart\u00adment); and about lifestyles (she adored sim\u00adplic\u00adi\u00adty bor\u00adder\u00ading on the Spar\u00adtan; every room in her apart\u00adment con\u00adtained min\u00adi\u00admal fur\u00adni\u00adture and absolute\u00adly no<\/i> knickknacks)\u2014but since those con\u00adver\u00adsa\u00adtions invari\u00adably took place before or after sex, I con\u00adsid\u00adered them sus\u00adpect, and not rep\u00adre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtive of how we would relate under less sybarit\u00adic cir\u00adcum\u00adstances. For that rea\u00adson, the week\u00adend was a test, or, as she had put it, \u201ca tri\u00adal run for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 from One Hun\u00addred Miles from Man\u00adhat\u00adtan
\n<\/em><\/strong>    by Chris Orcutt<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

_____<\/p>\n

I will post again when the nov\u00adel is released, and I hope you buy it and enjoy it. With\u00adout ques\u00adtion, it is my best writ\u00ading to date.<\/p>\n

This book has tak\u00aden a great toll on me phys\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly and emo\u00adtion\u00adal\u00adly, but I think the result is worth it.<\/p>\n

\u2014Chris<\/p>\n

_____<\/p>\n

*The author has permission and\/or Creative Commons rights to use the following photos from Flickr on the cover of this book: \u201cHunters Wellies CARNABY BOA\u2026\u201d and \u201cTurquoise and Brass Earrings and Necklaces\u2026\u201d by Maegan Tintari; \u201cDSC_1255\u201d (the fox hunt) by Bethany; \u201cFall Foliage\u201d by Kimberly Vardeman; \u201cRape Seed Field\u201d by Les Haines; \u201cMansion on a Hill\u201d by Lucas Wihlborg; \u201cJust a Perfect Day\u201d by Alison Christine. The photo \u201cWellington Sign\u201d is by Karen Kruschka.<\/h6>\n

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