Closer All the Time

by Jim Nichols

Overview

The inhabitants of Baxter, Maine, are going nowhere fast—but not for lack of trying. In this deftly written jewel of a novel, award-winning author Jim Nichols strings together the bittersweet stories of people bound together by shared geography and the insular nature of small-town life. There’s Johnny Lunden, a well-meaning war veteran with a penchant for the local bar and a deep, but doomed love for his family; eight-year-old Ted Soule, who shares a first kiss with the Ophelia-like Nadia, the daughter of his Russian neighbors; and Tomi Lambert who watches the confused adults around her struggle to accept their fates. With the coastal waters of Maine serving as a backdrop, Nichols artfully explores the nature of connection—hoped for, missed, lost, and found.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781939017505
Publisher:	Islandport Press
Publication date:	02/24/2015
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	129
File size:	538 KB

About the Author

Jim Nichols grew interested in fiction writing while working as a ticket agent for a commuter airline in Rockland. Born in Brunswick and raised in Freeport, Maine, Nichols has worked variously as bartender, pilot, skycap, taxi driver, fence builder, orange picker, travel agent and dispatcher for an air taxi service. His writing, which draws from his many experiences, has appeared in numerous regional and national magazines including Esquire, Narrative, From The Ashes (BR), The Clackamas Review, American Fiction, River City, and Night Train. He has been nominated several times for Pushcart prizes, and his first novel, Hull Creek, was the runner-up for the 2012 Maine Book Award for Fiction. Nichols now lives in Warren, Maine with his wife Anne, and their two rescue dogs Brady and Jessie. They have two grown sons, Aaron and Andrew. Nichols still works occasionally for Penobscot Island Air.

Editorial Reviews

"Nichols is a masterful storyteller, creating a gripping tale of suspense, vividly exposing the social and economic divisions between locals and outsiders—-and the good and bad decisions they both make—-with sharply defined characters, snappy dialogue and an exciting, satisfying conclusion that really isn't a happy ending at all."

Bill Bushnell

"Closer All the Time offers a look at life in the fictitious small town of Baxter, Maine, through stories linked by common places and characters. The characters are powerful, and their struggles keep the reader flying along from chapter to chapter, even without a traditional narrative."Maine Sunday Telegram"These intertwined narratives create a memorable novel that vividly renders a town and its denizens. Jim Nichols never condescends to his characters. Though readers might question their choices in life, we never doubt their humanity."—Ron Rash, author of Serena and Something Rich and Strange"Jim Nichols is one of my favorite writers, not just because he writes with such—dare I say—feminine insight about men’s men. But I also love the oddball worlds he opens up: behind the scenes of a cheesy roadside attraction in Maine, the daily work of skycaps at an airport, the conversations between amateur boxers, the mechanics of flying a small plane. His men and boys become so real, I feel as if I know what it might have been like to grow up surrounded by brothers."—Monica Wood, author of When We Were the Kennedys“Jim Nichols makes me happy. These characters are parents, kids, aunts and uncles, lovers, neighbors, workers, deep and yet accessible selves. They keep secrets then they share them, spy kisses, shoot high and fail, fall low and yet win. I felt like I was among friends, friends who worried me, challenged me, rejected me, loved me, paid back my attention, revealed their truest selves, moments so intimate I'd sneak off to read, moments so joyful I'd laugh through my tears. Closer All the Time is a novel built of stories, and a story built of sentences so beautiful I want to keep them like wild honey in a jar.”—Bill Roorbach, author of The Remedy for Love and Life Among Giants“Closer All the Time is perhaps best described as a succession of vignettes that accumulate to form a kind of community portrait, for it is Nichols’s mythical village of Baxter that tenderly cradles his character’s lives and their stories—and at a moment in our culture when there appears to be no surplus of authenticity, Jim Nichols tells those stories without ego.”—Josh Bodwell, Fiction Writer’s ReviewRead the full review and an interview with Nichols here.“These beautiful stories follow a chronological progression, focusing first upon the youth of the town, then the tender infatuations of adolescence and the heartbreak and tribulations of adult life. The soul of the book is Baxter, a place where the locals scrape and struggle and try to understand why. Nichols makes it clear that despite the travails and confusion, there is always a tendril of hope that connects back to the community.”—Bill Lundgren, The BollardFind the full review here."Jim Nichols' Closer All the Time shows his deep affection for the struggles and the heart of working class lives. In a style reminiscent of Hemingway, Nichols spare, plainspoken prose buzzes with emotional grit and tenderness, bringing dignity and vulnerability to alcoholics, poachers, and bullies. Damn Beautiful!"—Susan Henderson, author of Up from the Blue

From the Publisher

"Nichols is a masterful storyteller, creating a gripping tale of suspense, vividly exposing the social and economic divisions between locals and outsiders—-and the good and bad decisions they both make—-with sharply defined characters, snappy dialogue and an exciting, satisfying conclusion that really isn't a happy ending at all."

—-Bill Bushnell, The Kennebec Journal - -Bill Bushnell