FOY: ON THE ROAD
TO LOST
by
GORDON ATKINSON
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publisher: Material Media LLC
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Date of Publication: March 1, 2017
Number of Pages: 194
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Gordon Atkinson, of the popular blog RealLivePreacher, brings us Foy, a recently- divorced, recently-resigned pastor in the midst of redefining personal meaning. As Foy travels to New Orleans, hoping to find a new identity separate from the church, he keenly observes the everyday, rendering ordinary moments unexpectedly significant. Atkinson’s own background as a preacher and blogger inspires Foy’s confessional voice, the voice which characterizes this story about how our own experiences impact the universal search for meaning.
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PRAISE FOR FOY: ON THE ROAD TO LOST:
“If the magnitude of difference between the stars and humankind is the purest of religions, reminding us of our insignificance (so thinks Foy), then that magnitude is collapsed in the hands of Atkinson, whose words elevate the most insignificant of objects, acts, and characters to startling heights. A key shifted on a desk, a communion cup offered to an old woman despite a philosophical mismatch, a baby’s bottle first ignored and then retrieved for a frazzled stranger on a bus. Each commands, each arrests, each persists. And we suddenly remember that what we create with mere words can be as lasting as the luminaries.”
— L.L. Barkat, author of Rumors of Water: Thoughts on Creativity & Writing, twice named a best book of 2011
“Few writers can match Gordon Atkinson’s ability to tell stories about the sacred in our everyday lives. Foy is a work of power, beauty, and clarity–I saw myself and the world more clearly after reading it. I think you will too.”
— Greg Garrett, author of The Prodigal and Entertaining Judgment
“I really, really like Gordon Atkinson’s Foy. I like the character Foy himself. He’s Everyman and he’s me and he’s Gordon, all at the same time. Nice trick. I like Gordon’s writing — straightforward, but with a simple elegance. But what I really like is the no-holds-barred honesty. This feels real because it is real. Foy at his worst, Foy at his best, Foy at his most wonderful/awful. It’s an on-going series, just like life. I look forward to the next chapter.”
— Robert F. Darden, author of Nothing but Love in God’s Water, Volume II: Black Sacred Music from Sit-Ins to Resurrection City
New Novel by Gordon Atkinson Foy: On the Road to Lost, to be released March 1 from Material Media on Vimeo.
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“The stars were his silent, watching friends. Never changing. Neither his birth nor his death, not his life, his sorrow, or his joy would move them. This was religion in its oldest and purest form.”
Foy: On the Road to Lost is an insightful look at one man’s journey through life. The book starts out when Foy leaves the ministry and heads off to New Orleans. The rest of the book is a series of Foy’s memory snapshots from childhood to adulthood. While each section could stand alone, reading them in sequence shows Foy’s interesting progression of choices, mistakes, and life-changing moments.
What makes Foy so captivating is that we all have those moments or events in our lives that stand out in our memories. Some of these events seem innocuous, but they must be significant enough to have survived that long-term memory cut. Foy’s memory snapshots are funny, heartbreaking, awkward, and mundane, just like life. The episode in Foy’s life that affected me the most is about Foy’s encounter with the most bullied kid in school, David Friedman. Foy tries, but he inevitably succumbs to the sad yet often realistic need to remain distanced from that bullied kid, lest he be bullied as well. This decision to shun David obviously haunts Foy throughout his life.
Foy: On the Road to Lost by Gordon Atkinson is simple and unassuming, yet it hits the reader hard because pretty much everyone has retained those haunting memories, has made the wrong (or seemingly wrong) life decisions, has been crushed by love, has experienced severe doubts about faith and religion, and has encountered both loving and hurtful people.
Foy Davis is each and every one of us, and this sweet collection of memories encourages us to examine and celebrate our own special (and sometimes difficult) memories.
Enter the Giveaway below for a chance to win a signed copy of Foy: On the Road to Lost by Gordon Atkinson.
Atkinson is the author of the books RealLivePreacher.com (Wm. B. Eerdmans), Turtles All the Way Down, and A Christmas Story You’ve Never Heard. He was a contributor for the magazine Christian Century and founding editor for the High Calling website, which brought together hundreds of independent writers and featured their work.
His writing career started on Salon where he was among the most read bloggers on the site. One of his essays was chosen to be included in The Best Christian Writing 2004 (Jossey-Bass) and his book RealLivePreacher.com won the Independent Publisher Book Award in the creative non-fiction category.
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Grand Prize: Signed Copies of Foy: On the Road to Lost, Turtles All the Way Down, and A Christmas Story You Never Heard
2nd Prize: Signed Copy of Foy: On the Road to Lost
3rd Prize: Signed Copy of RealLivePreacher.com
(US ONLY)
March 1 – 15, 2017
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CHECK OUT THE OTHER GREAT BLOGS ON THE TOUR:
| 3/1 | Video Guest Post 1 | Hall Ways Blog |
| 3/2 | Review | Momma On The Rocks |
| 3/3 | Excerpt 1 | CGB Blog Tours |
| 3/4 | Video Guest Post 2 | Syd Savvy |
| 3/5 | Review | StoreyBook Reviews |
| 3/6 | Author Interview 1 | Kara The Redhead |
| 3/7 | Review | Forgotten Winds |
| 3/8 | Video Guest Post 3 | The Page Unbound |
| 3/9 | Excerpt 2 | My Book Fix Blog |
| 3/10 | Review | Margie’s Must Reads |
| 3/11 | Video Guest Post 4 | Chapter Break Book Blog |
| 3/12 | Author Interview 2 | Missus Gonzo |
| 3/13 | Review | Book Chase |
| 3/14 | Video Guest Post 5 | Texas Book Lover |
| 3/15 | Review | Reading By Moonlight |
Thank you, Ruthie.