A middle-aged rock star has a nervous breakdown in a posh Mexican hotel. A sullen teen with a DUI contemplates life during court-ordered community service. A man decides between his girlfriend and her roommate in the middle of an earthquake. A gay professor in '70s New York uses yoga to get over his young, dangerous, closeted ex-lover. These are just some of the complex, fascinating milieus that Chicago author Sally Weigel explores in her new story collection with the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography, Get Up Tim, a series of dense character studies with a sprinkling of magical-realism thrown in. Her second book with CCLaP after the 2009 youth/war novella Too Young to Fall Asleep, and with several of these stories already appearing in admired lit journals around the US, these probing looks at the contemporary human condition take us from teen prescription-drug parties to the dumpsters of homeless Pilsen, and even to a dark fairytale alt-universe, Weigel holding it all together with her trademark style and dry wit. The love child of Joe Meno and Joan Didion, this short and intense manuscript shows the flowering of a strong, young voice in the literary community, and fans of Weigel's first book will be delighted to see her potential realized even more potently here.
The electronic version of this book is being offered for free download to increase readership, although you're encouraged to make a voluntary payment through Paypal. To start the process, choose one of the options below:
Make a voluntary payment then download the ebook
Kindle owner? Click here to buy the ebook at Amazon.
Want a paper copy of Get Up Tim? Then order it in its "Hypermodern Edition," a series of special high-quality, handmade books designed for collectors but reasonably priced. It can be ordered with either recycled or cotton paper, and can be delivered through cheaper First Class Mail or faster Priority Mail. Use the drop-down menu below to choose the option most suited for you:
And if you especially like that paper cover image by Grace Blevins, why not order a 16 x 20 inch poster featuring it, or perhaps a 2 x 3 inch refrigerator magnet? All orders are fulfilled by CafePress.com, and should arrive in four to six days.
Get Up Tim poster: US$20 plus shipping
Get Up Tim refrigerator magnet: US$5 plus shipping
Supplemental and promotional material:
An interview with the author, explaining more about how this book came out
A critical essay by the publisher on why he signed the book
A "passing the torch" critical essay by Katherine Scott Nelson, CCLaP's last published author, on what ze likes about this newest book
This book's listing at Goodreads.com
Sally Weigel's personal website
This book has been released under a Creative Commons license (click the above icon to actually read it in full); this gives you permission to make unlimited copies for yourself, convert it into other formats, translate it into other languages, and use it as a basis for nonprofit multimedia projects (audio, film, animation, stage performance, calligraphy, etc), in return for you not changing the contents or removing the credits.
Cover image: "Manhattan Bridge Tower in Brooklyn, New York City, Framed Through Nearby Buildings, 06/1974," by Danny Lyon. Found through the Library of Congress "Commons" collection at Flickr.com.
CCLaP is always on the lookout for great unsigned manuscripts. Click here for more on how to submit your own.
Back to CCLaP Publishing
Back to CCLaP's main front page