Writer's Block

by Julian Padowicz

WRITER'S BLOCK - A sensational new novel from the award-winning author and filmmaker Julian Padowicz From his miserable childhood to his mediocre career as a college professor, fate had not been kind, or even terribly fair, to "Kip" Kippur. But Kip's luck changes when he inherits a house in a small coastal village in Massachusetts. He chucks his previous life and moves there to write the Great American Novel-a thinly disguised autobiography. As Kip struggles to transmute a leaden life into golden fiction, he finds himself alone and rudderless in a strange community. He stumbles into a mysterious murder, an awkward romance, a married lady's hot-tub, an unusual proposal of marriage-and an invitation to sail to Florida, during storm season, in a sailboat of questionable seaworthiness, with an autocratic captain and a homicidal crew mate. But Writer's Block is more than just the tale of a late-life crisis gone terribly awry. It's also an intriguing portrait of a small town and the complex people who inhabit it. It will keep you riveted all the way to its crashing conclusion.

244 pages, Paperback

First published June 16, 2010

Reviews

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

A middle-aged male academic's fantasy lived out in rural America.

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Librarything and Ravenswood for a free ecopy of Writer's Block.
What a fun, light read! Join bumbling, slightly delusional Kip Kippur as he meets an assortment of interesting characters in a coastal village in Massachusetts where he retires to write the great American novel.
I enjoyed all of the characters, especially Kip. I found myself drawn into his life, rooting for him to succeed and anguishing over many of his choices.
The novel is cleverly written with a nice blend of drama, mystery, adventure and humour. The ending caught me by surprise but was totally satisfying.

[Lindsay · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very diferent from what I thought it would be. It isn't really a conventional murder mystery like I thought it would be. The ending was...unexpected, to say the least. It was still a good book, but it wasn't quite what I was expecting.