Stephen Markley

“Extraordinary...beautifully precise...[an] earnestly ambitious debut.” —The New York Times Book Review “A wild, angry, and devastating masterpiece of a book.” —NPR “[A] descendent of the Dickensian ‘social novel’ by way of Jonathan Franzen: epic fiction that lays bare contemporary culture clashes, showing us who we are and how we got here.” —O, The Oprah Magazine “A book that has stayed with me ever since I put it down.” —Seth Meyers, host of Late Night with Seth Meyers One sweltering night in 2013, four former high school classmates converge on their hometown in northeastern Ohio. There’s Bill Ashcraft, a passionate, drug-abusing young activist whose flailing ambitions have taken him from Cambodia to Zuccotti Park to post-BP New Orleans, and now back home with a mysterious package strapped to the undercarriage of his truck; Stacey Moore, a doctoral candidate reluctantly confronting her family and the mother of her best friend and first love, whose disappearance spurs the mystery at the heart of the novel; Dan Eaton, a shy veteran of three tours in Iraq, home for a dinner date with the high school sweetheart he’s tried desperately to forget; and the beautiful, fragile Tina Ross, whose rendezvous with the washed-up captain of the football team triggers the novel’s shocking climax. Set over the course of a single evening, Ohio toggles between the perspectives of these unforgettable characters as they unearth dark secrets, revisit old regrets and uncover—and compound—bitter betrayals. Before the evening is through, these narratives converge masterfully to reveal a mystery so dark and shocking it will take your breath away.

Ohio

Deluge

“This book is, simply put, a modern classic. If you read it, you'll never forget it. Prophetic, terrifying, uplifting.” —Stephen King From the bestselling author of Ohio, a masterful American epic charting a near future approaching collapse and a nascent but strengthening solidarity. In the first decades of the 21st century, the world is convulsing, its governments mired in gridlock while a patient but unrelenting ecological crisis looms. America is in upheaval, battered by violent weather and extreme politics. In California in 2013, Tony Pietrus, a scientist studying deposits of undersea methane, receives a death threat. His fate will become bound to a stunning cast of characters—a broken drug addict, a star advertising strategist, a neurodivergent mathematician, a cunning eco-terrorist, an actor turned religious zealot, and a brazen young activist named Kate Morris, who, in the mountains of Wyoming, begins a project that will alter the course of the decades to come. From the Gulf Coast to Los Angeles, the Midwest to Washington, DC, their intertwined odysseys unfold against a stark backdrop of accelerating chaos as they summon courage, galvanize a nation, fall to their own fear, and find wild hope in the face of staggering odds. As their stories hurtle toward a spectacular climax, each faces a reckoning: what will they sacrifice to salvage humanity’s last chance at a future? A singular achievement, The Deluge is a once-in-a-generation novel that meets the moment as few works of art ever have.

The Deluge

Lancinante come un grido, nostalgico come una lettera d'amore, Ohio è il grande romanzo dei nostri anni. «Un romanzo epico che racconta con rispetto e compassione vite danneggiate e ostacolate. Perché è proprio dalla dimensione umana che dobbiamo partire per comprendere il mondo in cui viviamo». New York Times Book Review

The Great Dysmorphia

Since 2008, Stephen Markley has been one of the most popular, least popular, controversial, skippable, unflappable, deranged, and all around thorn-in-sideable columnists for Chicago's RedEye. Covering topics as diverse as presidential politics, climate change, sex, international diplomacy, and why dogs actually really, really suck and are annoying, Markley's column has been a must-read for those who care about the state of the world, democracy, why "The Dark Knight Rises" was actually a terrible movie. The author of "Publish This Book" and "Tales of Iceland," Markley's unique blend of humor and passion in this collection of his most irreverent and/or insightful columns. Just to prove that he's bit-time, this mix tape also includes his interview with author and environmental activist Bill McKibben of 350.org (ask your parents what a mix tape is).

Observations, Anecdotes and Rants From a Dark and Hilarious Age

The Worst of Stephen Markley

From the author of Ohio (Best Books of Summer 2018 Selection in Time, Vulture, and the New York Post) comes a brilliant, hilarious, and deeply touching memoir that blows the roof off the genre. Fed up with the complicated quest of trying to get a book published, Stephen Markley decided to cut to the chase and simply write a memoir about trying to publish a book—this book, to be precise. It's the most "meta" experiment he's ever untaken, and like a Mobius strip in book form, the concept is circular, self-indulgent, and—maybe, possibly, hopefully—brilliant. For fans of Dave Eggers and David Sedaris, Publish This Book is the modern day saga of an idealistic, ambitious, audacious, unyielding young writer who is tired of waiting his turn. Like any work that claims gleefully to be about nothing, it's really about pretty much everything—sex, drugs, politics, pop-culture, ex-girlfriends and sexy vampires. From the hope of early adulthood to the rage of life's many (unavoidable) disappointments, it is a story of overcoming the obstacles and discovering a happy ending at last. Most importantly, it's a story that will inspire readers to find their true voice in their work and in their life. Praise for Stephen Markley: "Markley seems clever and funny, but it may be his "fire" that ultimately makes him worthwhile." — Literary Chicago "Compelling, emotionally resonant passages . . ." — Publishers Weekly "Markley is a knockout storyteller" — Kirkus Reviews

The Unbelievable True Story of How I Wrote, Sold and Published This Very Book

Publish This Book

Dear Reader- This is called the "back cover copy," and you are no doubt familiar with its purpose. It describes what the book is about, so you can decide if you want to read it. Here's the problem, though: I can't even describe this book, and I wrote the damn thing.(1) Basically, it's like this: fed up with the Byzantine quest of trying to publish a novel, I decide instead to cut to the chase and write a memoir about trying to publish a book-this book, to be precise. Of course, now you're saying to yourself, "That is stupid," which is fair. But then you'll read it, and you'll say, "Damn, that was actually pretty good." Because obviously it's about much more than just publishing a book. It's about life and love and friendship; politics, pop culture, and basketball; sex, drugs, and mild, inoffensive, slow-tempo Christian rock.(2) It's about the pitfalls of narrating your life as it unfolds, freaking out when an agent actually (spoiler alert!) takes an interest in this bizarre experiment, and the surreal shock you undergo when a publisher actually buys it(3) and you suddenly realize that every secret drunk, drug, and sex story you've related will now be required reading for your parents, aunts, ex-girlfriends, and thousands of strangers who-you were kind of hoping-would never find out that you once accidentally shut your penis in a dresser drawer.(4) And finally, but most importantly, it's about those tumultuous early years of adulthood-the years when hope and fear and rage broil together and the promise of youth still holds the capacity to inspire awe. This is a story of those struggles-to find your true voice in your work and in your life. And the best part? You pretty much know it has a happy ending.(5)p? 1 What's beside it on the shelf? Something with a sexy vampire? If you're looking for sexy, I do full-frontal nudity in Chapter 11. 3 And then later makes you write your own back cover copy even though you clearly do not know what you're doing. 4 Although I'll dodge a bullet there because I totally left that story out of the book. 5 Except for what happens to the puppy at the fertilizer plant. I admit, that part is kind of a downer.

Sigga Rún

From drinking late into the night with gorgeous Icelandic blondes to traveling to the farthest reaches of the country; from hiking over glaciers to encountering a drunk, raging Kiefer Sutherland; from interviewing Jón Gnarr, the comedian mayor of Reykjavik (who ran on a platform of having free towels at all the swimming pools), to touring the homes of Iceland's hidden elves; Markley delivers the fastest, funniest memoir of an American experience in Iceland. -- p. [4] of cover.

Stephen Markley

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