Marc Fitten

********REVISED LINE-UP********As we've been telling you for a while now, A Cappella turns 20 years old this December 1, and we continue to celebrate with a 20% off sale on EVERY USED BOOK IN THE STORE. Now,we're thrilled to announce that on the first weekend of December, we're going to really ... (more)celebrate with A WEEKEND OF 20 AUTHORS. On December 5 and 6, from 12-5pm, we will present two authors each hour in Opal Gallery talking not just about their own books, but about a favorite book of theirs, by someone else. For instance, Marc Fitten, whose debut novel Valeria's Last Stand has been an international bestseller and has received rave reviews here, will talk about the book that made him want to be a writer, Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer. Bestselling and award-winning author Joshilyn Jackson will share the work of the under-appreciated author Frank Turner Hollon. The outrageous Hollis Gillespie will speak on her admiration for the cool and controlled writing of Joan Didion in Book of Common Prayer. Spelman professor and author Jelani Cobb, whose work has focused on the Civil Rights Era and Hip Hop culture, will read from Pete Hamill's Piecework. It's going to be the most interesting weekend we've had in 20 years. In addition to 20 great authors whom we've gotten to know through the years, we'll be entertained by some of Atlanta's most enduring musical artists, who have also played a role in A Cappella's history: Slim Chance, Mudcat, Caroline Herring and Bill Taft of Hubcap City, to name a few. Read the Access Atlanta article about this event and our anniversary at http://blogs.ajc.com/inside-access/20....

MARC FITTEN: VALERIA’S LAST STAND 7pm
Author Marc Fitten
visits with his debut novel, Valeria’s Last Stand. There are big fish in small
ponds, and then there is Valeria—a whale in a puddle. She harrumphs her way
through her backwater Hungarian village, finding equal fault with the new, ... (more)the
old, the foreign, and the familiar. Her decades of universal contempt have turned her into a touchstone
of her little community—whatever she scorns the least must
be best, after all. But one day her spinster’s heart is struck by an unlikely arrow:
The village potter, long known and little noticed, captures her fancy, and Valeria
finds herself cast in a role she never expected to play—this one deviation from
character being all it takes for the delicately woven fabric of village life to unravel.

Marc Fitten has written a delightful romp of a book! We are looking forward to having Marc’s event. Anyone who could write a book filled with such joy, humor, and sheer fun has got to be wildly interesting. Join us for a fun evening. There will be refreshments and drawings for prizes

Marc Fitten was born in Brooklyn in 1974. He has been published in several American publications, and has published a napkin online at Esquire. He is a PhD student at Georgia State University and received the Paul Bowles Fellowship for Fiction. He is currently the editor of The Chattahoochee Review, ... (more)Atlanta’s oldest journal. Valeria’s Last Stand, published by Bloomsbury in May 2009, is his first novel.

Marc Fitten was born in Brooklyn in 1974. He has been published in several American publications, and has published a napkin online at Esquire. He is a PhD student at Georgia State University and received the Paul Bowles Fellowship for Fiction. He is currently the editor of The Chattahoochee Review, ... (more)Atlanta’s oldest journal. Valeria’s Last Stand, published by Bloomsbury in May 2009, is his first novel.

Date/Time: Wednesday, May 6, 7:00 p.m. Event: Marc Fitten will read from and sign his debut novel, Valeria’s Last Stand, an Odyssey Bookshop Breakout Fiction Selection. A wine and cheese reception will follow the reading and signing. When it comes to the sizes of fishes and ponds, Valeria is a whale ... (more)in a thimble. She harrumphs her daily way through her backwater Hungarian village, finding equal fault with the new, the old, the foreign and the familiar. Her decades of universal contempt have turned her into a touchstone of her little community - whatever she scorns the least must be the best, after all. But, on a day like any other, her spinster’s heart is struck by an unlikely arrow: the village potter, long-known and little-noticed, captures her fancy, and Valeria finds herself suddenly cast in a new role she never expected to play. Valeria’s Last Stand is a joyfully wise small-town satire that takes an hilariously honest look at later-in-life romance and the notion that it's never too late to start anew. “A clever… narrative that emulates the fablelike tone of Calvino and Márquez, adding a heaping helping of Kundera-like sex and satire…. it’s refreshing to see a neophyte author taking seriously the passions and opinions of older people. Fitten has a distinctive voice and a promising future.” — Kirkus Review

Georgia Debut Author Night Part 2. We welcome two more talented Georgia authors with their wonderful new first novels. Marc Fitten is the very gifted editor of Chattahoochee Review whose novel Valeria's Last Stand is a comic feast set in 1990s Hungary. Laleh Khadivi is the author of The Age of Orphans, ... (more)a novel acclaimed already as a "stunning" work of great originality framed in graphic, poetic language. Tuesday, April 28, 7:15 P.M., Decatur Library Auditorium.