Lockport Union-Sun & Journal — A Lockport man’s first “revenge fantasy-comedy” novel will be launched this weekend with a public reading, walking tour and pub crawl.
Is there enough going on in that sentence for you?
Wait’ll you get a hold of Music Box Dancer, Mark Pietrzykowski’s new work.
The Niagara County Community College English professor steers away from poetry in his fourth published book, headlong into satire, with a tale about a put-upon soul and revenge gone wrong.
Pietrzykowski’s publishing company, Pski’s Porch, sent out a teasing press release this month, describing Music Box Dancer as “the story of a series of bad decisions involving ice cream trucks, al-Qaeda, bibliomania, college towns, qat, needle-nose pliers, unhappy policemen, glow-in-the-dark bocce, black swans, the Witness Protection Program, frozen pizza and the CIA (or maybe it wasn’t the CIA).”
More specifically, it’s a story of an alienated guy who’s set on living out a revenge fantasy — and the fallout when he does.
“The main character would like to lash out, but he’s not very good at it,” Pietrzykowski said.
“Pski” mulled over Music Box Dancer about 3 years before he started writing it. The story puts a different spin on the revenge-as-empowerment theme, which the English teacher observes is “sadly pervasive” in contemporary fiction.
“It’s a bad idea,” he said. “I wanted to poke some holes in it.”
Pietrzykowski will introduce Music Box Dancer in Lockport with a sample reading/walking tour/downtown pub crawl Saturday night.
Starting outside the Pot O’ Gold, West Genesee Street, at 7 p.m., he’ll read a section aloud at his portable lectern, then listeners are welcome to join him inside for a “hearty beverage.” The tour moves on to Ida Fritz Park at 7:30, the Niagara Hotel at 8, Gonzo’s at 8:30 and 21st Amendment at 9.
Copies of the book will be available for sale and signing. Pietrzykowski said anyone who completes all of the tour stops will be entered into a raffle for “strange and wonderful prizes.”
The book also is being sold through Barnes & Noble and Amazon.com.
Florida FBI Shooting Has Boston Bombing Links
Garcetti Elected Los Angeles Mayor Over Greuel
Raw: New Video of Deadly Oklahoma Tornado
IRS Official Pleads 5th Amendment
Lawyer: Feds Investigating Susan Powell Case
Former Rep. Weiner Running for New York Mayor
Jodi Arias: Death Penalty Would Cause More Pain
Police Ram House to End Hostage Standoff
Families Begin Returning to Their Homes in Moore
Raw: Aerial View of Moore Tornado Damage
Looking for Love? Take the Prague Metro
First Person: Baby Falcons on a New York Bridge
Crews Race to Find Survivors of Okla. Twister
Oklahoma: Images of Devastation, Reunion
Raw: Students Clash With Police in Chile
Protests Outside Cincinnati IRS Office
New Xbox One Entertainment Console Unveiled
