Tracks
A Novel in Stories
by Eric D. Goodman
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Pub Date Jun 30 2011 | Archive Date Sep 01 2012
Description
Eric D. Goodman’s debut novel-in-stories, Tracks, examines the decisions each character faces and how those decisions, as well as their interactions with the other passengers, alter the path ahead and cast past experiences and choices in a new light. Tracks explores each characters’ hopes for the future and just how intertwined their lives really are.
From nefarious goings-on in a Fells Point row house to prestigious partying on Federal Hill, Goodman’s Baltimore is immediately recognizable and real.
Praise for Tracks
“Tracks is a voyeuristic fantasy fulfilled. ”
- Aaron Henkin, Baltimore’s NPR station, WYPR
“Goodman is a keen, compassionate and refreshingly un-ironic observer of the human condition.”
-Bathsheba Monk, author of Nude Walker and Now You See It …
“…an absolute delight. The beautifully written stories of strangers riding the same train will hypnotically pull you in and captivate you to the very end.”
- Jessica Anya Blau, author of Drinking Closer to Home and The Summer of Naked Swim Parties
“In an age of commuter rush, virtual friends, and novels written in 140-character bursts, Eric D. Goodman reminds us of the richness of train travel or a good book: when the pace is slower, you never know what sort of souls will greet you.”
- Gregg A. Wilhelm, Executive Director, CityLit Project
““In Tracks, Goodman manages to capture the complicated push and pull of family, of friends, of history, of life—how it bears down on each of us, pulling us apart while simultaneously pushing us together…a wonderful debut.”
- Mary Beth Keane, author of The Walking People
About the Author
Eric D. Goodman has been writing fiction since he was in the third grade, when a story assignment turned him on to the craft more than a quarter century ago. He regularly reads his fiction on Baltimore’s NPR station, WYPR, and at book festivals and literary events. His work has appeared in a number of publications, including The Baltimore Review, The Pedestal Magazine, Writers Weekly, The Potomac, Grub Street, Scribble Magazine, The Arabesques Review, and New Lines from the Old Line State: An Anthology of Maryland Writers. Eric is the author of Flightless Goose, a storybook for children. Tracks is his first novel.
Advance Praise
New York Journal of Books
Goodman is a born storyteller who weaves his tales of each individual character, and then ties them together to create a finely patterned cloth. Like the Three Colors Trilogy (Blue/ White/Red) of director Krzysztof Kieslowski, Tracks develops in a way that has the secondary characters of one story become the central characters of another. As you move through the stories, you have the more transcendent experience of seeing each of the characters from many perspectives, at times understanding not only their “now” but something of their past and future.
Many of the reviews written of this book point out that it’s a great summer read. This is true. It’s the kind of book that you can read best at a leisurely pace, enjoying the slower rhythms of this literary ‘people watching.’ -Debra Leigh Scott
ForeWord Magazine
Like a collection of one-act plays, each scene is a tightly scripted vignette highlighting the life of a single character. And while each chapter of the novel is a standalone story, characters have roles to play in several.
The author has a knack for easily and quickly evoking a sense of place, here deftly describing the seasonal life in Baltimore's Inner Harbor: "In the humid days of summer, descending from the hill into the harbor was like sinking into a familiar hot tub.
The literary device of having the principal characters launched on a journey is well established, calling to mind examples as divergent as Chaucer and Zane Gray. If not done well it can be a cliche. Goodman handles the device deftly and the result is a compelling novel. -John Michael Senger
JMWW
In devoting each story to a character, [Goodman] gives room for us to get to know each one. By the time someone who is a bit player in one story emerges later to take center stage, we are eager to know why she is sitting there fingering a piece of paper or just what he is thinking when he moves to sit beside a bewildered elderly woman. The scenes in these stories expand to include all kinds of human fears and sorrows, regrets and grateful joys.Managing a large cast of characters is not an easy task, but one that Goodman accomplishes with ease. His format enables him to concentrate on one at a time while bringing others on stage to keep them in the reader's mind. For example, while the woman with the tattoo on her lower back has a chapter to herself where we learn what she is running from, we also see her drifting through the car or accepting a drink from another passenger. The characters interact throughout, creating a seamless narrative out of their different tales. -Barbara Morrison
Washington Independent Review of Books
Goodman writes with an appealing directness and attention to detail. -Kate Blackwell
Portsmouth Daily Times
Goodman’s novel-in-stories has been described as a “Tarantino-style ‘Love Actually’ meets literary fiction.” The book follows a group of characters on a train from Baltimore to Chicago, interweaving their experiences as each story spotlights the viewpoint of a character.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9780984510573 |
| PRICE | 14.95 |
| PAGES | 316 |
