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Earned Rum
“Somerset was falling from grace. He knew this was true because he was in a crashing airplane, and his grace was falling at 550 m.p.h.”
So starts EARNED RUM, Mark Zahn’s hilarious and startlingly off-beat first novel. As his team jet is nosediving, Somerset realizes two things: It’s hard to have grace under pressure, and walking away from $25 million isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Filled with a cast of unusual characters, crashing airplanes, drug runners, ugly dogs and island misfits, EARNED RUM follows the exploits of a middle-aged, knuckleball pitcher named Somerset – who decides to play his final season of major league baseball free of charge. Moving at a breakneck pace as he contemplates his twenty-five million dollar problem, Somerset soon realizes that everyone has an opinion, or at least a dying relative that could use the money!
Will he remain spiritually empty as he chases his 200th win, or will Somerset actually follow through on his outrageous claim, and at last convince everyone – including himself – that “It’s only a game?” From jilted lovers to anarchist pitchers, from seaside prophets to insane personal assistants, from talking bananas to shady CIA agents, EARNED RUM proves itself to be a triumphant coming-of-age story for all those who refuse to grow up!
So starts EARNED RUM, Mark Zahn’s hilarious and startlingly off-beat first novel. As his team jet is nosediving, Somerset realizes two things: It’s hard to have grace under pressure, and walking away from $25 million isn’t as easy as it sounds.
Filled with a cast of unusual characters, crashing airplanes, drug runners, ugly dogs and island misfits, EARNED RUM follows the exploits of a middle-aged, knuckleball pitcher named Somerset – who decides to play his final season of major league baseball free of charge. Moving at a breakneck pace as he contemplates his twenty-five million dollar problem, Somerset soon realizes that everyone has an opinion, or at least a dying relative that could use the money!
Will he remain spiritually empty as he chases his 200th win, or will Somerset actually follow through on his outrageous claim, and at last convince everyone – including himself – that “It’s only a game?” From jilted lovers to anarchist pitchers, from seaside prophets to insane personal assistants, from talking bananas to shady CIA agents, EARNED RUM proves itself to be a triumphant coming-of-age story for all those who refuse to grow up!
236 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 28, 2014
About the author
Mark Zahn
34 books2 followersA native of Webster City, Iowa, Mark Zahn graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Art and Design. He currently resides in Minnesota where he works as a graphic designer. Mark spent much of his formative years reading The Three Investigators, and he still enjoys putting his personal vision of them to paper in both words and illustrations. To date he has written five Three Investigators fan-fiction e-books, and several short stories.
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April 10, 2015
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. It was quietly funny in an unassuming sort of way, with some absurd situations and very well-defined characters.
In fact, the only character that doesn't seem to be well-defined in the beginning is Somerset, the main character. But that's part of his charm because we readers get to know him as he gets to know himself. This is a very funny story about a man who finally allows himself to grow up and figure out just exactly what he's been looking for in his life.
I definitely recommend this book.
In fact, the only character that doesn't seem to be well-defined in the beginning is Somerset, the main character. But that's part of his charm because we readers get to know him as he gets to know himself. This is a very funny story about a man who finally allows himself to grow up and figure out just exactly what he's been looking for in his life.
I definitely recommend this book.
Displaying 1 of 1 review