I Am the Light of This World

by Michael Parker

Overview

The searing and unforgettable story of one decision that irrevocably changes the course of a young man’s life.

In the early 1970s, in Stovall, Texas, seventeen-year-old Earl—a loner, a dreamer, a lover of music and words—meets and is quickly infatuated with Tina, the new girl in town. She convinces Earl to drive her to see her mother in Austin, where, after a hazy night of partying, Earl and Tina are separated. Two days later, Earl is being questioned by the police about Tina’s disappearance and the blood in the trunk of his car. But Earl can’t remember what happened in Austin, and with little support from his working-class family, he is sentenced for a crime he did not commit.

Forty years later, Earl is released into an America so changed he can barely navigate it. Determined to have the life that was taken from him, he settles in a small town on the Oregon coast and works to overcome the emotional toll of incarceration. But just as Earl finds a chance to begin again, his past returns to endanger the new life he’s built.

Steeped in the music and atmosphere of the 1970s, I Am the Light of This World is a gritty, gripping, and gorgeously written story of the impulsive choices of youth, redemption, mercy, and the power of the imagination.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643755359
Publisher:	Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Publication date:	09/05/2023
Pages:	320
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

The author of seven novels and three collections of stories, Michael Parker has been awarded four career-achievement awards: the Hobson Award for Arts and Letters, the North Carolina Award for Literature, the R. Hunt Parker Award, and the 2020 Thomas Wolfe Prize. His short fiction and nonfiction have appeared in the Washington Post, the New York Times, Oxford American, Runner’s World, Men's Journal, and others. He is a three-time winner of the O. Henry Prize for his short fiction and his work has appeared in dozens of magazines and several anthologies. He taught for twenty-seven years in the MFA Writing Program at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and since 2009 he has been on the faculty of the Warren Wilson Program for Writers. He lives in Austin, Texas.

Editorial Reviews

I Am the Light of This World is as true and moving a book, as honest, as gripping, as any I have ever read.  I continue to be haunted by this tragic novel—its note-perfect depiction of clueless youth, its bad breaks, bad choices, bewilderments and quirks, and, above all, the small moments of mercy that give hope in the midst of a hopeless situation.  How do you piece together a broken life that wasn't much in the way of whole to begin with?  With a career's worth of powerhouse fiction already in the books, Michael Parker has delivered his strongest work yet. I Am the Light of This World is a novel of truly singular beauty and wisdom.”
 —Ben Fountain, author of Beautiful Country Burn Again

“Earl Boudreaux, the protagonist of Michael Parker's stunning new novel is one of the great inventions in recent fiction. Watching this beautiful dreamer get lost in a netherworld where fate, and drastic human error are disastrously intertwined, I realized that “Earl” is just another word for the hopeful, hopeless, yearning, worn-out soul of America. Parker is just flat out astonishing.”
 —Marisa Silver, bestselling author of Mary Coin and The Mysteries

“I Am the Light of this World is a grimy, gutsy, glorious, novel and one of my favorite books in recent memory.  Somehow, Michael Parker channeled the ghosts of Kent Haruf and Harry Crews (the good angel and the bad) to write this literary gem which is as lowdown and gritty as it is graceful and profound.  An unforgettable novel that sings out on every page.”
 —Nickolas Butler, author of Shotgun Lovesongs and Godspeed

“A gut punch of a novel — lyrical, mordantly funny, and wrenching.”
 —Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble

“From the opening sentence on, I was transfixed, locked into the phonic level of Earl’s world and somehow magically both rooted and flying. I don’t know how Michael Parker does it. There is the rhythm of the sentences and the deep attention to sensory details but there is also something even more ineffable going on here. This novel is incredible. Read it! Read it! Read it!”
 —Mesha Maren, author of Perpetual West

“Michael Parker’s latest is a haunting story of how easily life can go off the rails. This book made me thank my lucky stars on every riveting page, as it simultaneously had me outraged at the ravening gyre of uneven justice and circumstance. I Am the Light of ThisWorld finds Parker working in profundities both deeply spiritual and relevant.”
 —Smith Henderson, author of Fourth of July Creek

From the Publisher

09/26/2022

Parker (Prairie Fever) traces in this frank if uneven outing the harrowing journey of an east Texas man who attempts to build a new life after serving a 40-year prison sentence. One night in 1973 Smyrna, Tex., 17-year-old Earl Boudreaux attends a wild, druggy party. The night turns hazy: there’s an orgy Earl scarcely remembers, and a drug dealer tries to rape Tina, the woman Earl’s in love with, then murders her. In short order, Earl, whose car is coated with Tina’s blood, is arrested and convicted for murder. Upon his release in 2018, Earl receives a large sum of money bequeathed by his lawyer which enables him to make a fresh start in Cliffside, Ore., where, after staying in a motel and struggling to lead a normal life, he finds a place to live and a new set of friends, all the while concealing his history until another fateful mistake brings his past to light. While the author aptly conveys Earl’s quotidian challenges post-incarceration, the book is marred by thinly developed characters, particularly in the first half covering Earl’s teen years. It’s not bad, but other authors have done much more with stories of false convictions. Agent: Joy Harris, The Joy Harris Literary Agency. (Nov.)

Publishers Weekly

08/26/2022

Critically acclaimed Parker pens his eighth novel (after Prairie Fever), a sad tale that opens in early-1970s Smyrna, TX. Teenager Earl Boudreaux leads a lonely existence among an assortment of relatives, sustained by his love of blues. His life gets worse when new-in-town Tina tricks him into driving her to Austin to visit her mother at a mental institution. Gullible Earl, unaware that her name isn't Tina and that her well-off parents live in Houston, follows her into the dark, drug-laden side of Austin. After awaking from a drug-induced blackout, Earl can't find Tina or a mysterious companion named Tom, and his car trunk is full of blood. In his own defense, he desperately tries to remember more, but even his faithful lawyer Arthur can't save him—it's East Texas, Tina's parents are wealthy, and innocent Earl doesn't have a chance against a charge of first-degree murder. When he's released from prison 40 years later, he heads for the West Coast, hoping for a break even as his memories weigh heavily. VERDICT A heart-wrenching story compounded by misguided decisions and bad luck, Earl's life could form the basis of the blues songs he and Arthur so loved. For most fiction readers.—Donna Bettencourt

Library Journal

Michael Crouch gives such an intimate narration of Earl Boudreaux’s story that listeners will be transported. They will believe they are sitting across from Earl himself, listening to how choices made on one fateful out-of-town trip changed his life forever. And Earl can tell a tale. He loves words and music, and incorporates each into his story, whether he is a lonely 17-year-old making bad choices or a middle-aged man trying to figure out how to navigate a changed world decades later. Crouch delivers poignancy and hope in equal measures and sharply pulls the listeners into Earl’s world. The listener may not have personal knowledge of that world, but they will certainly understand it through Crouch’s outstanding narration. L.M.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2022 - AudioFile

Michael Crouch gives such an intimate narration of Earl Boudreaux’s story that listeners will be transported. They will believe they are sitting across from Earl himself, listening to how choices made on one fateful out-of-town trip changed his life forever. And Earl can tell a tale. He loves words and music, and incorporates each into his story, whether he is a lonely 17-year-old making bad choices or a middle-aged man trying to figure out how to navigate a changed world decades later. Crouch delivers poignancy and hope in equal measures and sharply pulls the listeners into Earl’s world. The listener may not have personal knowledge of that world, but they will certainly understand it through Crouch’s outstanding narration. L.M.G. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine

DECEMBER 2022 - AudioFile