This was supposed to be a writers’ retreat.” Haunted (Doubleday, May 2005) by Chuck Palahniuk. Ninth book, seventh novel. Agent: Edward Hibbert. Editor: Gerry Howard.
“You could tell it was going to be a perfect beach day, maybe the best one all summer, maybe the last one of our vacation, and we were going to spend it at my cousin’s bat mitzvah in Chappaqua, New York.” The Wonder Spot (Viking, June 2005) by Melissa Bank. Second book, first novel. Agent: Molly Friedrich. Editor: Carole DeSanti.
“On my first day in jail, a three hundred pound man named Porterhouse hit me in the back of the head with a metal tray.” My Friend Leonard (Riverhead Books, June 2005) by James Frey. Second book, memoir. Agent: Kassie Evashevski. Editor: Sean McDonald.
“Helen says heaven, for her, / would be complete immersion / in physical process, / without self-consciousness—” School of the Arts (Ecco, April 2005) by Mark Doty. Tenth book, seventh poetry collection. Agent: Bill Clegg. Editor: Terry Karten.
“Chilhowee Mountain spanned Blount County at the height of twenty-six hundred feet, but Loren Garland had never in his nine years been that high.” Bitter Milk (Picador, May 2005) by John McManus. Third book, first novel. Agent: Jane Gelfman. Editor: Joshua Kendall.
“There are times on this drive when I have been tempted to turn to Dorie and shout, ‘Our parents have been dead for years! Our father died while piloting a La-Z-Boy into oblivion, the remote still warm in his fingers! Our mother died in her bedroom; her last whispered words being “More! More!” That’s what happened to our parents! Not this! Not this!’” The Company Car (Random House, May 2005) by C.J. Hribal. Fourth book, second novel. Agent: Nat Sobel. Editor: Jonathan Karp.
“The parrot has taught itself how to imitate my alarm clock.” Early Bird (Simon & Schuster, May 2005) by Rodney Rothman. First book, memoir. Agent: David McCormick. Editor: Geoff Kloske.
“I speak in years and coins.” Weather Eye Open (University of California Press, April 2005) by Sarah Gridley. First book, poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: Laura Cerruti.
“If you hold up your right hand, with your palm facing you, and you say that’s the state of Michigan, then somewhere along your pinky would be Weneshkeen.” The Lake, the River & the Other Lake (Pantheon Books, May 2005) by Steve Amick. First book, novel. Agent: Joe Veltre. Editor: Deborah Garrison.
“Morning on earth, light snow, and just when / it was so warm, practically spring.” Continued (Wesleyan University Press, April 2005) by Piotr Sommer. Translated by Halina Janod. Eleventh book, ninth poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: Suzanna Tamminen.
“This bird on the branch can’t feel the season.” Postcards from the Interior (BOA Editions, Ltd., May 2005) by Wyn Cooper. Third book, poetry collection. Agent: None. Editor: Thom Ward.
