READERS might expect Fergus Falls to offer charming, heartwarming tales from the title outpost, a town turned city on the Minnesota prairie, and the self-proclaimed Mushroom Capital of America.
ALAS…
…long-time mayor Francis Mingalone suffers from vivid hallucinations, real-estate tycoon José Hosea kidnaps innocent tourists, and Moira, the bad artist, inflicts her suspect talent on anyone, on any occasion. No one heeds the warnings of the Gnome, who is astute enough to distinguish homonyms. No one understands Tommy Mingalone, the mayor’s nephew, who has subsumed the local baseball team in a quest for frequent flyer miles. No one can figure out the purpose, if not Purpose, of Fergus Falls, either in normal font or italics, although socialite Euphemia Roof-Tischinski might claim it lies in the “Love, Passion, and Valour of Chantalle La Chaumiere,” the syrupy romance she is writing. The task of unraveling the mysteries of both city and novel falls to newspaper columnist Evelyn Kopak, the only woman brave enough to stare into cursed microwave ovens and to date the man who sells them.
So find a comfy chair and bring some raw crimini mushrooms to snack on, because you have now arrived in Fergus Falls. Escape is unlikely, even with the purchase of a first-class ticket on Flight Two, The Golden Argosy, nonstop to Rome. Wisdom may be attainable, if you are willing to accept it from other taxonomic kingdoms. Alternatively, you may watch the sun rise and set, day in and day out, a pattern that probably is just a coincidence.
Support your local bookstore!
Magers & Quinn, Minneapolis: https://www.magersandquinn.com/product_info?products_id=125912235&isbn_id=26429944
Common Good Books and Next Chapter Booksellers, St. Paul
https://www.nextchapterbooksellers.com/book/9781087878539
Everywhere else!
https://bookshop.org/books/fergus-falls/9781087878539h
Amazon, for discount paperback and Kindle versions:
https://www.amazon.com/Fergus-Falls-Novel-Joseph-Berman/dp/B087647N13
Yup, everyone, the novel is now published. Many thanks to the enthusiastic support from those of you helped me along the way, among them Richard F and Fran H, and my old writing groups led by Martha H and the late, great Walter James Miller. Wouldn’t have been brave and determined enough without you.
The comment section is open, feel free to leave one. Something positive and nice, though. We’re in the middle of an epidemic–we need to be nice to each other!
Joe! Thrilled ! Congratulations. This is stupendous news, and it couldn’t have arrived at a better time, when the world feels like it is coming to an end.
I would love to read it, but I am stuck in England, having arrived here last week of February, right before the virus hit. Will you save a copy for me, please. I cant pick up mail until late May.
Big hug,
Martha H.
Congratulations on novel and periodical. I will buy the novel. About defeating Trump: please see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phShZ4QN1_I, a 3 -minute opera about him.
This is exciting, Joe. With the sadness and oddness created in the real world by the COVID-19 pandemic (and the free time “stay-at-home” has provided), a novel about an odder but funnier reality will be a welcomed read.
Thank you Martha, and I certainly will save a copy for you. Let me know when you’re back stateside. Stay safe!!
Thank you! And here’s to victory in November!
Thanks Glenn!