I am pleased as Punch to start off the blog book tour for Michael Williams’ four-book set, The City Quartet! I love this writer’s work. I would read anything he wrote. Srsly, folks, I mean this is OMG territory.

Williams was born in Louisville, Kentucky, and spent much of his childhood in the south central part of the state, the red-dirt gothic home of Appalachian foothills and stories of Confederate guerrillas. Through good luck and a roundabout journey he made his way through through New England, New York, Wisconsin, Britain and Ireland, and has ended up less than thirty miles from where he began. He has a Ph.D. in Humanities, and teaches at the University of Louisville, where he focuses on the Modern Fantastic in fiction and film. He is married, and has two grown sons.

If you only read one book this year, let it be these four.

Each book stands alone, and they can be read in any order, but I think they’re best as a set, and I’m glad I read them in the order I did:

Trajan’s Arch
Vine
Tattered Men
Dominic’s Ghosts

Set in a fictional city that bears an uncanny resemblance to Louisville, Kentucky, all four books center on a handful of years, a handful of characters, and a handful of settings. The core settings are the soon-to-be-defunct movie theater downtown, the park just south of downtown (specifically the outdoor theater where free plays are performed every summer), further south to the intersection known as Fourth and Fellini because of the crew of non-traditional characters who hang out there, the bar and the bookstore, and on further south to the university. All these settings are connected by the cord of Fourth Street, with the blood of the story flowing back and forth over the chapters, the books, and the years.

The publisher designates these books as magic realism, which Merriam-Webster defines as:

a literary genre or style associated especially with Latin America that incorporates fantastic or mythical elements into otherwise realistic fiction

I’m not certain that really describes these books. I’m not entirely certain how I would describe them, or if they can even be described.

I know many of my readers believe that literary fiction is fiction in which nothing much happens, and they know I disagree. A lot happens in these books, both to the characters and within the characters. Much of what happens – or seems to happen – is fantastic and/or mythical. But is it really, actually happening within the world of the books, or is it the imagination of one character or the mass hallucination of more than one, or is it symbolic of something deeply internal, or…?

This makes it sound as if the books are hard to follow, but they aren’t. From each opening sentence, Williams pulls you through the story with dovetailed incident and compelling characters. Each book adds layers to what happens in the other books. They each and all bear thinking about, and each and all bear re-reading.

I can’t tell you much detail, because all the details are important. I will tell you, though, that my two favorite characterizations are the sometimes-central T. Tommy Briscoe (who is, among other things, a homeless Elvis impersonator), and a cameo by a university professor named Michael Williams, who has a beautiful wife.

Long-time readers know how ~~cheap~~ thrifty I am, so it says something that I had purchased two of these books when they came out under a different imprint; then, when Seventh Star took over the publication and put out all four, I bought the whole set. I could have scored free eBooks of all of these in return for an honest review, but I bought four books in print, two of which I already owned. That’s how much I love these books.

Even the covers are made to fit together thusly:

Follow the tour, buy and enjoy the books, and join me in this world, so familiar and so strange.

Tour Schedule and Activities

4/29 Marian Allen, Author Lady https:/MarianAllen.com Review

4/29 The Literary Underworld http://www.literaryunderworld.com Guest Post

4/29 Armed With a Book http://www.armedwithabook.com Guest Post

4/30 The Book Junkie Reads . . . https://thebookjunkiereadspromos.blogspot.com/ Author Interview

5/1 MyLifeMyBooksMyEscape http://mylifemybooksmyescape.wordpress.com Author Interview

5/2 Joel Harris GoodReads.com Review

5/3 The Book Lover’s Boudoir https://thebookloversboudoir.wordpress.com/ Review

5/4 Sheila’s Guests and Reviews http://sheiladeeth.blogspot.com Guest Post

5/5 Jazzy Book Reviews https://bookreviewsbyjasmine.blogspot.com/ Guest Post

5/6 Willow Writes and Reads https://willowwritesandreads.com/ Review

5/6 The Seventh Star Blog http://www.theseventhstarblog.com Guest Post

Tour Page URL: http://www.tomorrowcomesmedia.com/city-quartet-blog-tour-featuring-michael-williams-mythic-fiction-and-magical-realism/

Amazon Links for Dominic’s Ghosts

Print Version: https://www.amazon.com/Dominics-Ghosts-Michael-Williams/dp/1948042584/

Kindle Version: https://www.amazon.com/Dominics-Ghosts-Quartet-Michael-Williams-ebook/dp/B07F5Z4L18/

Barnes and Noble Link for Dominic’s Ghosts: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dominics-ghosts-michael-williams/1129262622?ean=9781948042581

Amazon Links for Vine – An Urban Legend

Print: https://www.amazon.com/Vine-Urban-Legend-Michael-Williams/dp/1948042622/

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Vine-Urban-Legend-Michael-Williams-ebook/dp/B07H45PVQB/

Barnes and Noble Link for Vine – An Urban Legend: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/vine-michael-williams/1111767057?ean=9781948042628

Amazon Links for Trajan’s Arch

Print: https://www.amazon.com/Trajans-Arch-Michael-Williams/dp/1948042754/

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Trajans-Arch-Michael-Williams-ebook/dp/B07RD1RF9T/

Barnes and Noble Link for Trajan’s Arch: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/trajans-arch-michael-williams/1100075829?ean=9781948042758

Amazon Link for Tattered Men

Print: https://www.amazon.com/Tattered-City-Quartet-Michael-Williams/dp/194804286X/

Kindle: https://www.amazon.com/Tattered-City-Quartet-Michael-Williams-ebook/dp/B07YF6T1GG/

Barnes and Noble Link for Tattered Men: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tattered-men-michael-williams/1133901517?ean=9781948042864

This post is also part of Linda G. Hills weekly blog hop, One-Liner Wednesday. If you have a one-liner or just like them, follow the link.

A WRITING PROMPT FROM ME TO YOU: Something happens that may not have happened.