Welcome to my stop on the Taking on Secrets tour! Read on for more details about this book!
Taking on Secrets by Kevin Pilkington
Taking On Secrets
Publication Date: April 2, 2022
Genre: Historical Fiction/ Coming-of-Age
Publisher: Blue Jade Press
A coming-of-age tale about our protagonist Benjamin Kissel as he grows up as a single child in an upper-middle-class catholic home during the 60’s and 70’s. Experience his struggles with his family, lust, lies, and love as he grows from a teenager to a successful adult in the city that never sleeps, NYC.
“A coming-of-age story by Kevin Pilkington, who is a creative writing professor at the prestigious Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, NY, a tony suburb of New York. The story is also set in Bronxville and Manhattan. I used to live in Bronxville, and Pilkington’s descriptions are spot on.” – Susan Schwartzman
“A spirited, humorous mosaic of teen life in a 1970’s America, an adult life in a forgotten Hollywood, a forgotten Lower East Side, too, and dead-on reflections on pop culture, family, and traditions. Taking on Secrets is a furious, transcendent, urgent sweep of a full life, with a prose filled with rhythm, energy, humor and poetry.”—Ernesto Quinonex, author of Bodega Dreams
“Are we merely the sum of our experiences, or can we become something more? That’s the questions that Kevin Pilkington’s Taking on Secrets is asking between the lines of every page. An addictive, funny, fearless coming-of-age story.”—David Hollander author of Anthropica and L.I. E.
Review:
Reading Taking on Secrets was such a fun time for me! I love reading books set in the 60s and 70s, especially if it is centered around the city that truly never sleeps. New York City is an action-packed city and it was nice to read about a coming-of-age experience. As an avid historical fiction reader, I knew this was going to be an enjoyable read for me and I was not disappointed.
Pilkington takes readers on an adventure through the perspective of a young man who experiences things in life that we can all relate to. I was drawn to this novel right away because of the unique nature of the cover; a beautiful landscape of NYC that will be sure to pique your interest.
Those looking for a short novel will be pulled right into this and will love every second of it. One of my favorite parts of this novel is the writing, it keeps you interested until the last page. The author knows how to describe/explain the experiences and feelings that happen to the protagonist.
About the Author
Kevin Pilkington is a member of the writing faculty at Sarah Lawrence College. He is the author of ten collections: Spare Change was the LaJolla Poets Press National Book Award winner; Getting By won the ledge chapbook award; In the Eyes of a Dog received the New York Book Festival Award; The Unemployed Man Who Became a Tree was a Milt Kessler Poetry Book Award finalist. His poetry has appeared in many anthologies including: Birthday Poems: A Celebration, Western Wind, and Contemporary Poetry of New England. Over the years, he has been nominated for four Pushcarts.
He poems have appeared in numerous magazines, including The Harvard Review, Poetry, Ploughshares, Iowa Review, Boston Review, Yankee, Hayden’s Ferry, Columbia and North American Review.
He has taught and lectured at numerous colleges and universities including The New School, Manhattanville College, MIT, University of Michigan, Susquehanna University and Georgia Tech. His debut novel, Summer Shares, was reissued in paperback. His collection, Where You Want to Be: New and Selected Poems was an IPPY Award Winner. A new collection entitled Playing Poker with Tennessee Williams was recently published. Taking on Secrets is his second novel.
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