Michael Zadoorian's Blog

Looking forward to doing this FB Livestream event. AUTHOR SWAP with Josh Malerman author of BIRD BOX. Josh will read from The Narcissism of Small Differences and I’ll read from his just-released and brilliantly horrifying Malorie Friday, September 25th at 7pm EST. Streaming link: https://lnkd.in/eyUUMbM

The Narcissism of Small Differences

Zadoorian (The Leisure Seeker) serves up a wry, unflinching tale of an underachieving couple in midlife crisis mode as the recession grips the industrial Midwest. Joe and Ana live in Ferndale, Mich., a mile outside Detroit, where they’ve been shacked up (but not married) for 15 years. Joe’s a freelance journalist just getting by, while Ana, once an aspiring documentary filmmaker, works in advertising and has become the breadwinner. Despite their cramped living quarters, they live in separate spheres. While Ana befriends and fantasizes over a coworker, Joe stays out late drinking and, while home, develops a heavy porn habit. After Ana catches Joe at the screen, she expresses doubts about their relationship and ongoing living situation. Things don’t get any easier at work. Ana questions how far she’s willing to stray from her progressive values to serve a Christian client, and Joe is reduced to a “telemarketing Willie Loman,” selling ads for a newspaper. Zadoorian’s comedy of contemporary manners resonates by virtue of its introspective characters and depictions of the small moments in life that, taken together, have great significance. Piquantly titled chapters (“Out Come the Freaks”) provide additional comic snap. Zadoorian’s subtle, timely story hits the mark.

THE NARCISSISM OF SMALL DIFFERENCES

Detroit 2009—a once vital city ravaged by globalization, like many other cities in the former industrial Midwest. Good jobs are hard to find, and Joe and Ana, a longtime unmarried couple both in their late 30s, each struggle with jobs they don’t like and a relationship of which they have become uncertain. They love Detroit and each other, but they are at a breaking point, needing to make serious choices about their futures. They feel a great deal of pressure to do what couples their age are supposed to do—get married, have children, and take out a mortgage. Ana has built a successful career in advertising, but she is finding this work increasingly soul-crushing. Joe has always wanted to be a writer, but he has had to support this dream with a series of increasingly dead-end jobs in a dying trade—journalism. Zadoorian (Beautiful Music; The Leisure Seeker) brings their travails and their relationship skillfully to life in this warm, surprisingly playful novel about middle-age crisis.

VERDICT: Zadoorian’s obvious affection for Detroit, along with his enthusiasm for his characters’ pursuit of meaningful lives, makes this a very enjoyable read. Recommended for fans of literary fiction and contemporary love stories.

Greetings, people of Lansing and surrounding environs. I will be in the area known as "Okemos" on this Thursday, September 13 at Schuler Books at 7pm. I will read words aloud, answer questions (also using words), and sign books (again with the words). If you're around and like words, please consider stopping by. That is all.Beautiful Music

Hey All, I will be doing a reading/signing of Beautiful Music on Saturday, August 25th at 2pm at Horizon Books in downtown Traverse City. Come by if you're in the area! Details here: https://www.horizonbooks.com/event/au...

Hey Wisconsin friends, I will be visiting the land of cheese and supper clubs! I'm doing an event for Beautiful Music at the awesome Boswell Book Company in Milwaukee on Wednesday, August 15 at 7pm. It will be a night of rock 'n' roll literature featuring a conversation with Pete Coviello, author of Long Players: A Love Story in Eighteen Songs. Details here: https://www.boswellbooks.com/upcoming...
If you live in Milwaukee or nearby, stop by and say hi. It should be a great evening of talk about books, music and books about music. I'm looking forward to going to Milwaukee again. I'll definitely be checking out the Foundation Tiki Bar, which I've heard is incredible. Beautiful Music Long Players: A Love Story in Eighteen Songs

Hey All, I will be doing a reading/signing of Beautiful Music on Tuesday, the 17th at the Kalamazoo Public Library's Central Location at 6pm. Come by if you're in the area! Details here: http://kpl.evanced.info/signup/EventD...
Beautiful Music

Beautiful Music has been chosen as one of Oprah.com's Top Books of Summer. You can find the list right here: http://www.oprah.com/book/summer-book...

I will be doing a reading/signing of Beautiful Music this Thursday, the 12th at @farmlib Farmington Library (on Liberty) at 7pm. I'll be accompanied by a special guest musician -- Oscar/Grammy winner Luis Resto! http://www.farmlib.org/michael-zadoor...

I will be at the Printers Row Literary Festival on Saturday, June 9th at 10:30am, discussing my novel Beautiful Music with Sharon Solwitz, author of Once In Lourdes. We will be discussing our Michigan inspired stories that are both fueled by the backdrop of the violent events that took place in the 1960s. Come by and check it out. It should be interesting. #PRLF18 https://printersrowlitfest.org/event/...