Last Call in the City of Bridges (Small Press Distribution (All Titles))
Like his post po-mo Facebook generation, Michael Bishop, the manic narrator of Last Call in the City of Bridges, has reached the end of his irresponsible youth. Stuck and unsure, he looks back at those eight-bit Nintendo years with tender nostalgia while trying to feel his way forward. Like The Moviegoer, Salvatore Pane's debut novel is a romantic ironist's plea for authenticity in a fantastic age. It's telling and hilarious that his hero's model for male adulthood isn't William Holden but Super Mario. --Stewart O Nan author of The Odds: A Love StoryQuite obviously, Salvatore Pane's mind has been dunked in video games, social media, comic books, the WebNet, and everything else our august literary authorities believe promote illiteracy. I d like to hand the authorities Pane's novel -- a funny, moving, melancholy, sad, and immensely literate book about what being young and confused feels like these days -- and tell them, 'See? Things are going to be fine!' --Tom Bissell author of Extra Lives: Why Video Game MatterLike the comic book heroes he obsesses over, Michael Bishop has an origin story, the story of the first wound that makes his powers necessary and in Last Call in the City of Bridges, Michael at last faces into that tragedy, resurfacing suddenly at the mid-point of his twenties, those years of snark and expectation spent proofreading DVD subtitles, drinking literature-themed cocktails, and pining over preacher's daughters and college crushes. In this witty and charming debut, Salvatore Pane reminds us that while you can't retcon your past, you can perhaps learn to live up to its responsibilities, by using your powers not necessarily to save the ones you love from loss, but to care for those left behind in its wake. --Matt Bell, author of Cataclysm Baby