An award-winning political dark comedy by a retired Daytona Beach News-Journal editor has been published by the Journal of Experimental Fiction in Chicago.
āItās a tragedy you can dance to,ā said Cal Massey of his novel āOwn Little Worlds,ā which won the journalās Kenneth Patchen Award for the Innovative Novel in 2020. The award is named after the mid-20th century experimental writer who influenced Beat and Postmodern literary movements.
āThe setting is post-Trump America and journalists and political dirty tricksters are going head-to-head to save democracy,ā said Massey. āA toe-tappinā tune just might be the answer, but youāve got to get through a bomb, a couple of murders and a lot of lies to get there.ā
Massey retired as deputy managing editor of the Daytona Beach News-Journal in 2016. This is the Flagler Beach authorās first novel at age 65.
Advance praise for the novel highlighted its pacing and unique voice.
āThe story draws you in from the opening paragraphs and the pacing and voice are masterful,ā said Jesi Buell, editor-in-chief of KERNPUNKT Press.
In announcing the award winner, judge Jason E. Rolfe, author of āAn Inconvenient Corpseā and āAn Archive of Human Nonsense,ā said: āCal Masseyās ā(Own Little Worlds)ā stands out not simply because itās well written (which it is), because itās a good story (which it is), or because itās experimental (which it is, though not superficially so). It stands out because itās a mixture of these three key ingredients, the most impressive of which, I would happily argue, is the quality of Mr. Masseyās writing.ā
Massey calls the novel āa shapeshifterā because it turns into a play and back again about two-thirds of the way through. āIt solved a logistical problem. I needed to get all the characters together in one place,ā he said. āAnd then I kind of liked it.ā
The book jacketās summary describes the plot this way:
āFour days before the presidential election, a bomb explodes on a Japanese cargo ship in the Port of Jacksonville, incinerating four American workers. Unexplained murders follow.
āRetired newspaper editor Trammell is on the story, just as soon as he gets in a quick nap. Laid-off reporter Lucy Neale has his back, searching for a fugitive computer programmer falsely accused of planting the bomb.
āIs the Democratic president, Oscar winner Cassandra Holland, somehow involved? Is the GOP challenger, pro wrestler Daniel āThe Hammerā Hammerschmidt, behind it? And just what is dirty trickster Dick Maestro up to? All we know for sure is that a toe-tappinā tune could save America.ā
āOwn Little Worldsā is available on Amazon or at experimentalfiction.com
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