His entry begins:Lynn Bonasia's honey of a second novel, Summer Shift is a perfect summer read. I particularly loved the highly effective emotional close. I felt sure that Dan and Mary were made for each other and was sure, too, that in the end they would overcome and straighten out whatever obstacles and misunderstandings were keeping them apart. But the delaying tactics work here just as they work in Pride and Prejudice (that classic piece of Chick Lit). If this was a movie, I’d cast Scott Bakula, who plays an out-of-work lothario actor in the TV series Men of a Certain Age, as Dan, and I guess Sandra Bullock as Mary. I love the restaurant stuff and the quirky neurological stuff (synesthesia and Parkinson’s) and Cape Cod as a place associated with little-known but nevertheless legendary artists. Also the themes of loss, false guilt, lies, and aging that are present throughout and that give the novel its...[read on]Among the acclaim for The Chester Chronicles:
"Kermit Moyer is one of America’s undiscovered treasures. I find myself periodically imagining a parallel world that’s exactly like this one, except that in the other world, Moyer occupies his proper place in the literary universe. I can only hope that with the publication of The Chester Chronicles that world is on its way."Learn more about the book and author at Kermit Moyer's website.
--Michael Cunningham
"An eloquent, stylish novel-in-stories, 16 tales narrated by Chester Patterson, an "Army brat," who highlights his life from his sixth-grade crush in 1954 through the mid-1960s, when he's "officially an adult," and finally, his father's interment at Arlington National Cemetery. This evocative coming-of-age cycle brings to mind the stories of Lorrie Moore."
--Publishers Weekly
"The Chester Chronicles is both heartbreaking and funny. Kermit Moyer has absolute perfect pitch when it comes to Chester’s voice and the times in which he lives."
--Alice McDermott
"The brief chapters in this exquisitely written first novel also work as stand-alone stories, perfectly evoking the particulars of the late 1950s-early 1960s era and the universal emotions of childhood and adolescence. Chester "Chet" Patterson is the perennial new kid in town. Written from the perspective of an adult but employing a present-tense narration, the novel so honestly exposes pivotal moments during Chet's life that readers are almost made to feel like voyeurs. With a beautifully spare style, Moyer displays an unerring feel for those moments that distill both the pathos and the comedy of growing up."
--Booklist
Kermit Moyer grew up an Army brat in the 1950s. He got his BA, his MA and his PhD in English from Northwestern University and in 1970 joined the faculty of American University in Washington, DC, where he taught literature and creative writing for the next 37 years. His short fiction has appeared in The Georgia Review, The Southern Review, The Sewanee Review, and The Hudson Review. His books include Tumbling, a collection of stories.
Writers Read: Kermit Moyer.
--Marshal Zeringue
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