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The Meteoric Rise of Simon Burchwood
On his way to New York to celebrate his impending literary success, Simon Burchwood is the prototypical American careerist: arrogant, egotistical, narcissistic. But a quick detour to Montgomery, Alabama to visit a childhood friend sends Simon on a bizarre journey, challenging his hopes and dreams of becoming a famous writer. The Meteoric Rise of Simon Burchwood is a character study that delves into the psyche of a man who desperately tries to redefine himself. Is Simon pompous? Yes. A jerk? Yes. Will you like him? Absolutely!
- GenresFiction
252 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
7 people are currently reading
303 people want to read
About the author
Scott Semegran
23 books252 followersScott Semegran is an award-winning writer of ten books. BlueInk Review described him best as “a gifted writer, with a wry sense of humor.” His latest book, Starman After Midnight, is a quirky novel-in-stories about two beer-drinking neighbors who team-up to track down a mysterious late-night interloper terrorizing their middle-class neighborhood. His nine previous books include The Codger and the Sparrow (Discovery Prize winner for Fiction in the 2024 Writers’ League of Texas Book Awards), The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island (first-place winner for Middle-Grade/Young Adult fiction in the 2021 Writer’s Digest Book Awards), and To Squeeze a Prairie Dog (winner of the 2020 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award Gold Medal for Humor and winner of the 2019 Texas Author Project for Adult Fiction). He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English.
Scott Semegran is co-host of the web series Austin Liti Limits along with fellow award-winning writer Larry Brill.
Rep: Mark Falkin at Falkin Literary.
Scott Semegran is co-host of the web series Austin Liti Limits along with fellow award-winning writer Larry Brill.
Rep: Mark Falkin at Falkin Literary.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
May 5, 2011
Simon is like most of us, he wants to be someone someday. And like most of us, he can’t help but constantly judge, assume, hypothesize, condemn, envy and pity (just to name a few) people of the world. You’re probably judging me right now thinking who does she think she is accusing me of such things? I think I am the all seeing, all knowing writer of this review! Forgive me I digress! Simon Burchwood is a reflective character that forces a reader to look at the shameful, dirty parts of our humanity. Can he help who he is? No more than any of us can. His perception is comical and ironic as well as sadly maddening because of its truth. Perhaps, not our truth, but nevertheless the truth according to Simon Burchwood’s world and just in case you doubt what he says, he’ll kindly punctuate the wisdom he shares with a ‘it’s true.’ This is key because near the beginning the reader is told this is a dream and that we’re not to forget – but you can’t help but forget. It’s debatable and when the ‘dream’ plot is used well (which it is) it can be thematically complicated in a mind-melt sort of way. In addition, there is plenty of evidence peppered throughout the story to support one way of thinking or another. I particularly zoned in on the possibility of dream symbolism and how it could be analyzed and applied to what was happening in Simon’s life. Is any of it real or is Simon’s journey to the Barnes & Noble flagship store in New York just a really messed up fantasy?
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May 22, 2017
Thank you to the author for providing me a copy of this book in exchange of an honest review
So I'm having a hard time with how many stars I should give this book. I guess I'll just say 3.5. If the whole story was like the beginning, I don't think it would have liked it at all. That being said, the ending of the book was exciting, lots of action and kinda twisted. I'm not sure I understood it completely though.
Warning: you will get EXTREMELY annoyed with the repetitive usage of the word "goddamn" and the phrase "It's true" grr Plus I think that the wrong words were emphasized with italics sometimes.
Simon is convinced he's a famous author. He makes sure he tells everyone he meets. He sets out on this journey to his old home town and then has plans to go to New York to read some of his story to a crowd at Barnes and Noble. Things turn crazy when he learns that there's something wrong with his credit card. His wild friend doesn't make matters any better.
So I'm having a hard time with how many stars I should give this book. I guess I'll just say 3.5. If the whole story was like the beginning, I don't think it would have liked it at all. That being said, the ending of the book was exciting, lots of action and kinda twisted. I'm not sure I understood it completely though.
Warning: you will get EXTREMELY annoyed with the repetitive usage of the word "goddamn" and the phrase "It's true" grr Plus I think that the wrong words were emphasized with italics sometimes.
Simon is convinced he's a famous author. He makes sure he tells everyone he meets. He sets out on this journey to his old home town and then has plans to go to New York to read some of his story to a crowd at Barnes and Noble. Things turn crazy when he learns that there's something wrong with his credit card. His wild friend doesn't make matters any better.
August 21, 2011
This book was recommended to me, and I loved it. Although I was put off at first, because I do not generally like it when writers write stories about writers, I ended up eating up this book in one day.
From the start you are in the head of Simon Burchwood, a very opinionated, neurotic, intelligent and foul-mouthed writer based in Austin. Simon has made it as a writer; now he's off to New York for a grand entrance reading from his own book at the flagship Barnes and Noble store on Fifth Avenue. En route to New York Simon plans a two-day stop in his old hometown of Montgomery, Alabama.
What drew me in to this story quickly was the laser focus of Simon's observant mind, quickly tearing apart all the people he meets, depending on how they treat him: the check-in clerk at the airport gate, whom he persuades to upgrade him to first class; a barfly at the bar who runs away when Simon starts a conversation; the bartender, who drags him into the walk-in cooler to smoke a joint. This is just the start, and Simon goes from one hilarious encounter to the next.
During the two days back in his hometown Simon re-connects with his old best friend, Jason. Jason is in every way the counterpoint to Simon. Jason's marriage is falling apart; his house is a pig-sty; he drinks too much; his career is stuck. Jason has never even been out of Alabama. The bond between them is real, and it's a pleasure watching them get reacquainted, even as you begin to sense there may be something seriously wrong. Other old friends are introduced, and old stories told, and the book took on a depth I hadn't expected it to take on.
For a while I felt as if I was reading Catcher in the Rye again, maybe with Holden Caulfield twenty years down the line. There were moments, too, when I felt the presence of Raymond Carver, because the dialogue is so fine and ascerbic. But Simon Burchwood is ultimately darker and funnier than Salinger's hero, and a total original.
I would strongly recommend this book.
From the start you are in the head of Simon Burchwood, a very opinionated, neurotic, intelligent and foul-mouthed writer based in Austin. Simon has made it as a writer; now he's off to New York for a grand entrance reading from his own book at the flagship Barnes and Noble store on Fifth Avenue. En route to New York Simon plans a two-day stop in his old hometown of Montgomery, Alabama.
What drew me in to this story quickly was the laser focus of Simon's observant mind, quickly tearing apart all the people he meets, depending on how they treat him: the check-in clerk at the airport gate, whom he persuades to upgrade him to first class; a barfly at the bar who runs away when Simon starts a conversation; the bartender, who drags him into the walk-in cooler to smoke a joint. This is just the start, and Simon goes from one hilarious encounter to the next.
During the two days back in his hometown Simon re-connects with his old best friend, Jason. Jason is in every way the counterpoint to Simon. Jason's marriage is falling apart; his house is a pig-sty; he drinks too much; his career is stuck. Jason has never even been out of Alabama. The bond between them is real, and it's a pleasure watching them get reacquainted, even as you begin to sense there may be something seriously wrong. Other old friends are introduced, and old stories told, and the book took on a depth I hadn't expected it to take on.
For a while I felt as if I was reading Catcher in the Rye again, maybe with Holden Caulfield twenty years down the line. There were moments, too, when I felt the presence of Raymond Carver, because the dialogue is so fine and ascerbic. But Simon Burchwood is ultimately darker and funnier than Salinger's hero, and a total original.
I would strongly recommend this book.
November 3, 2017
If you can only get through the first chapter or two, I can see how you can be lead to believe you have temporarily worn the skin of this jerk named Simon Burchwood.
Like any proverbial train-wreck, I had to keep reading. I know I was doing so to see if he would eventually get some come-uppance. But then I realized this was much more of a fleshed out character than I had anticipated. It was not only fun to explore the mind of this egotistical, self-centered writer, but it was also fascinating to view his interactions with other people while his thoughts meander from sheer panic to extreme confidence as he constantly judges himself as much as he judges others. These thoughts eventually contribute to some interesting choices/decisions on his adventurous trip to his book signing in New York.
A humorous and actually thought-provoking book since it gives you another viewpoint into the mentality of a character you would normally not read about. A great read!
Like any proverbial train-wreck, I had to keep reading. I know I was doing so to see if he would eventually get some come-uppance. But then I realized this was much more of a fleshed out character than I had anticipated. It was not only fun to explore the mind of this egotistical, self-centered writer, but it was also fascinating to view his interactions with other people while his thoughts meander from sheer panic to extreme confidence as he constantly judges himself as much as he judges others. These thoughts eventually contribute to some interesting choices/decisions on his adventurous trip to his book signing in New York.
A humorous and actually thought-provoking book since it gives you another viewpoint into the mentality of a character you would normally not read about. A great read!
July 28, 2017
I am glad that I read this book without knowing a thing about it. It made my reading experience surprising and confusing, but in a good way.
The story starts out slowly, and all you know about Simon Burchwood is what he tells you. This definitely evoked some questions with me as I was reading. For example, "Is Simon really an author or is this some kind of strange fantasy?" the more I read though, the more I was convinced of his legitimacy as a writer. Right up until the ending that threw the world's largest spanner in the works. It's true!
The story starts out slowly, and all you know about Simon Burchwood is what he tells you. This definitely evoked some questions with me as I was reading. For example, "Is Simon really an author or is this some kind of strange fantasy?" the more I read though, the more I was convinced of his legitimacy as a writer. Right up until the ending that threw the world's largest spanner in the works. It's true!
September 8, 2012
In the mind of the main character you get to experience the laughable side of a jerk. This book will have you rolling in laughter at a man who can not or will not realize who and what he is. Non stop laugh beginning to end.
December 2, 2020
It's rare for me to read a book with such an unlikeable main character, yet still care what happens and continue to hope for the best. But that's Simon Burchwood, and I loved this book. Easily one of my best reads this year.
March 8, 2017
I'm not sure just what to say about this book. It was a crazy story; yet despite the 'off the wall' main character, I wanted to keep reading.
Simon is an up and coming author who is going to New York City to read excerpts from his soon to be released book. On the way there, he stops at his childhood town in Alabama and reconnects with both his best childhood buddy as well as his childhood memories.
Simon is a self-absorbed man, who thinks quite a lot about himself. He is judgmental and uses profane language. Yet, you still kind of like him.
What happens enroute to New York is just crazy!
You have to read this with an open mind, sense of humour and just shake your head, wondering if there really and truly are people like this in the world.
Simon is an up and coming author who is going to New York City to read excerpts from his soon to be released book. On the way there, he stops at his childhood town in Alabama and reconnects with both his best childhood buddy as well as his childhood memories.
Simon is a self-absorbed man, who thinks quite a lot about himself. He is judgmental and uses profane language. Yet, you still kind of like him.
What happens enroute to New York is just crazy!
You have to read this with an open mind, sense of humour and just shake your head, wondering if there really and truly are people like this in the world.
February 27, 2012
Simon Burchwood is a character that I feel everyone can relate to. He just wants to be somebody and is envious of other people when they get to be somebody. He is also a reflective character that allows the reader to look at the darker aspects of humanity that is within us all. I think this will help all kinds of readers to relate to the character of Simon.
The novel was well thought out and all the characters that came into contact with Simon all have a role to play. This novel did have me in fits of laughter at times and this is something I haven’t experiences in a while with a novel.
Overall a funny read and I would recommend this book.
A copy of this book was received for free and all opinions expressed are my own through reading it.
This review was first published on http://everybookhasasoul.wordpress.com
The novel was well thought out and all the characters that came into contact with Simon all have a role to play. This novel did have me in fits of laughter at times and this is something I haven’t experiences in a while with a novel.
Overall a funny read and I would recommend this book.
A copy of this book was received for free and all opinions expressed are my own through reading it.
This review was first published on http://everybookhasasoul.wordpress.com
December 18, 2018
I re-read this last summer while finishing the edits for Sammie & Budgie. I still loved it! I'm biased, though. What can I say?
July 2, 2013
Was a interesting story line and ending events was surprising.
I don't like giving story line out - ruins the reading part!!!!
I don't like giving story line out - ruins the reading part!!!!
December 26, 2021
Badly written
June 23, 2012
I'm afraid I couldn't enjoy this book because, despite a good plot idea, the characters were just so puerile and self centered I didn't particularly care what was going to happen to them.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews