the literary equivalent of a unicorn

One week from today...quite possibly THE GREATEST BOOK OF ALL TIME (at least to my biased self) will finally be available for sale. I really can't speak highly enough of The Passage.


Pretty much everyone has said it better or first, but I can tell you that the two weeks I spent during this very cold last winter reading this mammoth book were some of the best moments Ive ever spent as a reader & a lover of the English language.


It had been a pretty dark winter for me. I wondered what the next phase in my life was going to be. And every former confidence I had in myself as a writer had been challenged.


I remember walking from my office over the RH office to pick up the copy from a friend. I remember practically dancing back and smiling until my face hurt. I couldn't wait for the day to be over so I could start it. I'm not kidding when I say that I just NEEDED this book to be good.


While reading it, I remembered all the reasons I ever thought I could be a professional writer. Many of which were born at Rice & under the guidance and encouragement of JCC. It was right around this time that I found out I had been accepted in St. Andrews (probably didn't hurt that Cronin wrote a letter of rec). So I suppose there's a part of me that feels like The Passage is a good luck charm for me (as it clearly is for Cronin!)


It's also one of those rare moments in the literary world where someone truly deserving gets all that's coming to them. Popular, critical, and financial success stories in this business just don't come along that often. I sure am glad it happened to my friend and mentor, who was also so kind as to pseudo adopt me into his awesome family when I really needed one.


So much of what's thrilling about being in a family, belonging, being a part of something awesome is in The Passage. (As Cronin says "What does it mean to be a human? And who gets to be one?") The way you feel a part of the separate family-clusters of characters who band together to save the world. The way you'll find yourself yelling out loud at one o'clock in the morning when they roll into Vegas in the tank, "NO! Don't turn left on Sunset! That'll never work! You're gonna get us killed! TURN RIGHT!" The way you'll feel truly sad when, after 700 some odd pages, you'll have to set  Alicia and Peter and Amy aside for you're not sure how long until Part 2 comes out. (And you hope that your friend JCC will let you preview some pages ;)


There's also a vampire named Ferguson, so keep your eyes open (by that, I mean blink & you'll miss it!). Which you probably should anyhow, because some crazy shit goes down around just about every corner.


I've also promised dear Cronin that I would bring as many of my folks as possible to the his opening day reading/signing event at the Borders in Columbus Circle. So, if you're free around 7PM next Tuesday, come with me! I can promise that Cronin is a wonderful reader and tells great jokes.


Tuesday, June 8^th—NEW YORK, NY 
7:00 pm
Talk & Signing
Borders
10 Columbus Circle
New York, NY 10019

“Justin Cronin has written a wild, headlong, sweeping extravaganza of a novel.  The Passage is the literary equivalent of a unicorn: a bonafide thriller that is sharply written, deeply humane, ablaze with big ideas, and absolutely impossible to put down.”
—Jennifer Egan, author of The Keep