A True History of the Captivation, Transport to Strange Lands, & Deliverance of Hannah Guttentag: A Novel

by Josh Russell

Overview

Like the Puritan-era narratives she studies, Hannah Guttentag’s early-1990s narrative is a chronicle of the strange places she travels—Nashville, Ithaca, New Orleans, Cleveland, Nebraska—the savages who captivate her—librarians, grad students, professors, her baby—and the redemption she earns.

Josh Russell's previous novels are Yellow Jack and My Bright Midnight. An Illinois native—born in Carbondale, raised in Normal—he now lives in Decatur, Georgia with his wife and daughter.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781936873722
Publisher:	Dzanc Books
Publication date:	08/28/2012
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	170
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Josh Russell's previous novels are Yellow Jack and My Bright Midnight. An Illinois native—born in Carbondale, raised in Normal—he now lives in Decatur, Georgia with his wife and daughter.

Editorial Reviews

An acceptance to Cornell's graduate program causes a seismic shift in Hannah Guttentag's life. Moving to Ithaca in the early 90s, Hannah eagerly adapts from her Tennessee life to her "new badass Back East persona," starting the summer as a live-in nanny for the Careys. "Meatless breakfasts, homemade ricotta, no TV — this was what I expected from New York. The weather, too, was so foreign it made sense." Out around campus she quickly meets Frank, a fellow grad student and a "hyper-organized neat freak with a system for everything" who has an uncanny way of stretching his limits in the academic system to retain his stipend while studying Advanced Fiber Arts or an "independent study on silence." Their romance begins with discussions about "theories of sexuality, the role of autoeroticism in the development of young men and women, and the remarkable lack of self-love in serious literature." Novelist Russell (Yellow Jack) succeeds with this comical study on academic banter, sex, and betrayal, interwoven with details from some of the Puritan-era narratives Hannah is studying. Each chapter is written like a quick snapshot, series of events, all tied together loosely with string. Russell captures the essence of the feminine narrative with humor and a refreshing candidness, illustrating a life and a woman's redemption using succinct and lyrical prose. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly