We are thrilled to welcome Michael Poore, author of Up Jumps the Devil, to the store this summer as a guest in our Yellow Chair Series to celebrate the debut of his first novel. Mr. Poore will join us on Thursday, July 19th from 7:00 - 8:00 p.m. This is a free wine and cheese event and reservations are requested. For more information, or to reserve your space, contact us at 231-347-1180 or send us an email.
Up Jumps the Devil is a wild ride that will leave you wanting more. John Scratch (the Devil) has a broken heart, his true love and fellow fallen angel, Arden has decided that Earth is too much and has returned to heaven. The Devil believes he's found a new Eden with which to lure Arden back to Earth: America.
We follow the Devil from colonization to the 1960s as he strives to help America reach the height of civilization and win back his love.
Michael Poore's work has appeared in Southern Review, Carolina Quarterly, Hayden's Ferry Review, Fiction, StoryQuarterly, and Glimmer Train and has been nominated for a 2011 Pushcart Prize. His 2009 story "Blood Dauber," written with Benula Award nominee Ted Kosmatka, has been nominated for the prestigious Sturgeon Award, appeared in Azimov's and won its Readers' Choice Award, and was selected for inclusion in the 2010 Year's Best Science Fiction anthology.
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He's made of wood. He
cooks an excellent gumbo. Cows love him. And he's the world's first love
story . . . and the world's first broken heart. Meet the darkly
handsome, charming, John Scratch, a.k.a. The Devil. Ever since his true
love, a fellow fallen angel named Arden, decided that Earth was a little
too terrifying and a little too violent, John Scratch has been trying
to lure her back from the forgiving grace of Heaven. Though the wonders
of Egypt nor the glories of Rome weren't enough to keep her on Earth,
John Scratch believes he's found a new Eden: America.
From Pocahontas and the Pilgrims onward, John Scratch capitalizes on
the bounty of this arcadia. Then, one dark night in the late 1960s, he
meets three down-on-their-luck musicians and strikes a deal. In exchange
for their souls, he'll grant them fame, wealth, and the chance to make
the world a better place. Soon, the trio are helping the Devil push his
pet nation towards the height of civilization-or so he thinks. But
there's a great deal about humans he still needs to learn, even after so
many millennia among them.
Overflowing with imagination, originality, insight, and humor,
rippling with history and myth, Up Jumps the Devil is an immensely fun
read, a richly entertaining, clever and madcap journey as irresistible
and charming as the devil himself.
