Contributed by Erika Davis / Creekside Books & Coffee
Creekside Books & Coffee, an independent bookstore and coffeehouse in Skaneateles, welcomes Thomas Cobb author of Shavetail, Acts of Contrition and Crazy Heart on Sunday June 1 at 1pm.
“Our events coordinator works diligently behind the scenes to bring a variety of events to the bookstore. We look to line up authors with great talent and interesting subject matter. Mr. Cobb’s books will engage, entertain and educate the reader,” says Erika Davis, owner of Creekside Books and Coffee.
About the author
Thomas Cobb was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Tucson, Arizona. He is the author of novels Crazy Heart and Shavetail, and a collection of short stories Acts of Contrition, that won the 2002 George Garrett Fiction Prize. He lives in Rhode Island with his wife.
About the book
Set in 1871 in the unforgiving desert of the Arizona territories, Shavetail is the story of Private Ned Thorne, a seventeen-year-old boy from Connecticut who has lied about his age to join the army. On the run from a shameful past, Ned is desperate to prove his worth—to his superiors, his family, and most of all, to himself. Young and troubled, Ned is as stubborn as a shavetail, the soldiers’ term for a willful, untrained mule. After a band of Apaches attacks a nearby ranch, killing two men and, perhaps, kidnapping a woman, Ned’s superiors, also seeking to atone for their mistakes, lead Ned and the rest of his company on a near suicidal mission through a particularly menacing stretch of desert and into Mexico in hopes of saving the woman’s life.
Publication date February 12, 2008
Praise For: Crazy Heart & Shavetail
“Crazy Heart is a beautiful book… The characters are cut cleanly out of America–the roadside West, the dance halls and beer joints, the occasional big concert, Houston, Nashville, Southern California, and the endless, eternal hotel rooms that are as close to home as any country singer ever gets… Bad Blake is a man you will not soon forget.” –Kinky Friedman, The Washington Times
“In his debut novel, Thomas Cobb has produced a piercing, keenly observed chronicle of America, getting across the current mores and attitudes as experienced by C & W musician Blake.” –Los Angeles Times
“In producing as nearly a masterpiece as the subject has yet attracted, Cobb seems to have triumphed… Cobb has created an unforgettable character who engages not only your interest, but your emotion… and who proceeds to take you on a roller-coaster ride through his tawdrily tumultuous life.” –Chicago Tribune
“The education to which Thomas Cobb’s eager young soldier is forced to submit combines such wisdom, pain, suspense, and nasty good humor that I simply couldn’t read this book fast enough. Of course I didn’t know what a “shavetail” was when I began, but learning that was only part of the education I was treated to. Guilt and innocence, blood and tenderness — I can’t imagine any reader who could resist.” –Rosellen Brown, author of Civil Wars
Creekside Books & Coffee is located at 35 Fennell Street in Skaneateles. The bookstore is the only retail store in the village selling new hardcover and paperback books as well as toys, gifts, greeting cards and other merchandise. The coffeehouse features the freshest roasted coffee in town, a light fare menu and a pleasant atmosphere to relax and enjoy.
Tags: crazy heart, creekside books, shavetail, thomas cobb
Tom and I would like to say thanks again to Erika, Karen, and the rest of the gang at Creekside for making the Shavetail reading and signing event a success. It was great fun to see some of our old pals and some new faces too. Thanks everyone!