Shrapnel
The life that Bing Butler had imagined for himself has exploded, and he'll have to assemble a new one in West Virginia, a place known only through jokes and stereotypes. This crotchety Candide will be led astray and will experience terrible, ordinary betrayals on his way to a future he'd not imagined.--Val Nieman, author ofBlood Clay.Shrapnelwill hit you in surprising places. It is the story of an unforgettable character's internal warfare and the hot, wounding fragments of his fantasies, reveries, and regrets. Marie Manilla lays down every sentence thoroughly and lovingly. This is an author you can trust.--Jacqueline St. Joan, author ofMy Sisters Made of LightMarie Manilla'sShrapnelis aFathersandSonsfor our time. It's a novel about generational, political, and geographical differences and what it takes to bridge them. It's a novel about the past and the past's refusal to remain safely buried. And it's a novel about journeys--its protagonist's, certainly, but all of ours--toward discovery, humility, and wonder. PerhapsShrapnel'sgreatest pleasure is the way it's told--vividly and with evocative portraits of people and places--and with wisdom--and with gentle and welcome humor. --Mark Brazaitis, author ofThe River of Lost Voices: Stories from Guatemala, An American Affair,andThe IncurablesBing's attitude is one we initially want to scoff at in order to find a way to tolerate his ways. But life isn't that simple, particularly for our war heroes who have seen and done things we citizens can't imagine, all for our greater liberty. We must slow down, listen to each other, particularly when someone's viewpoint differs from our own--that's the only time we can truly learn from each other. Marie Manilla does a fantastic job inShrapnelof reminding us of exactly that incredibly human activity. --Daniel Wallace, author ofBig FishandMr. Sebastian and the Negro MagicianAll these questions are skillfully threaded into this novel about a man forced by age and circumstance to leave one life late in his life and his attempts to try and live in harmony in a new world. Manilla gives us rich characters who populate the physical landscapes of Bing Butler: Texas and West Virginia. His worlds, both past and present, are infused with memories, and the author is masterful in her exploration of his inner landscapes of grief, guilt, and love. --Gail Galloway Adams, author of The Purchase of Order