Tag archieven: American Novel

American Novel, Amerikaanse roman, Amerikaanse Schrijvers

Stanley Elkin – The Franchiser

Stanley Elkin The Franchiser review and information of the content of the novel from 1976 by the American author. Dalkey Archive Essentials will republish the Stanley Elkin novel, on September 9, 2025. 

Stanley Elkin The Franchiser review

If a book review or commentary of The Franchier, the novel written by Stanley Elkin, appears in the media, we will highlight it on this page.

Stanley Elkin The Franchiser

The Franchiser

  • Author: Stanley Elkin (United States)
  • Book type: American novel, roadnovel
  • First edition: 1976
  • Publisher: Dalkey Archive Essentials
  • Released: 9 September 2025
  • Length: 400 pages
  • Format: paperback
  • Prize: €16,95
  • Order book from: Amazon / Bol

Blurb of the 1976 novel by Stanley Elkin

A tragicomic journey across America as one man attempts to create a fast food empire, and a legacy to leave behind.

From the prolific and peerless Stanley Elkin, The Franchiser follows Ben Flesh—one of the men “who made America look like America, who made America famous.” He collects franchises, traveling from state to state, acquiring the brand-name establishments that shape the American landscape. But both the nation and Ben are running out of energy. As blackouts roll through the West, Ben struggles with the onset of multiple sclerosis, and the growing realization that his lifetime quest to buy a name for himself has ultimately failed.

Stanley Elkin was born on 11 May 1930 in New York Ciry. He was an award-winning author of novels, short stories, and essays. Born in the Bronx, Elkin received his BA and PhD from the University of Illinois and in 1960 became a professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis where he taught until his death. His critically acclaimed works include the National Book Critics Circle Award-winners George Mills (1982) and Mrs. Ted Bliss (1995), as well as the National Book Award finalists The Dick Gibson Show (1972),  Searches & Seizures (1974), and The MacGuffin (1991). His book of novellas, Van Gogh’s Room at Arles, was a finalist for the PEN Faulkner Award. Other novels he published are: Boswell: A Modern Comedy (1964, debut novel), A Bad Man (1967), The Magic Kingdom (1985) and The Rabbi of Lud (1987). He died at the age of 65 on 31 May 1995 in St. Louis, Missouri of a heart attack.

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Amerikaanse thrillers, Amerikaanse Schrijvers, Verenigde Staten

C. William Langsfeld – Salvation

C. William Langsfeld Salvation review and information of the story in the American Western noir novel. Counterpoint Press will publish the new thriller by C. William Langsfield, the American author, on February 2, 2026. A Dutch translation of the crime novel is not available.

C. William Langsfeld Salvation review

  • “Langsfeld’s writing hits like a brushfire: sparks that seem harmless quickly burn you alive. It is searing and direct and quite possibly a perfect voice for our world.” (Dane Bahr, author of Stag)
  • “In Langsfeld’s debut, we find a gut-punch of a novel that explores exactly what the title presents: salvation. In a complicated and dark world, redemption is forged by carving our own path, seeking our own justice. With a voice all its own, this novel is gracefully written and also extraordinarily riveting. One of those books you can’t put down—and you’re a bit sad when it ends.” (Laura Pritchett, author of Stars Go Blue)

C. William Langsfeld Salvation

Salvation

  • Author: C. William Langsfeld (United States)
  • Book type: American western noir novel
  • Language: English
  • Publisher: Counterpoint Press
  • To be released: 3 February 2026
  • Length: 256 pages
  • Format: hardcover / ebook
  • Prize: $ 27.00
  • Order book from: Amazon / Bol

Blurb of the new book by C. William Langsfeld

This emotionally charged Western noir explores a small rural Colorado town in a state of crisis at the height of winter. Tom Horak has just murdered his best friend, Rust Hawkins. Morris Green, the town’s Lutheran pastor, is experiencing a profound crisis of faith, questioning the very existence of God. And Marshal Thomlison, the local peace officer looking forward to retirement, is now thrown into the middle of a murder investigation.

Following his violent act, Tom retreats to a cabin in the hills, remembering the events of his hardscrabble childhood—a rural upbringing on a ranch with a distant mother and abusive father.

Rust Hawkins’s son is taken in by Pastor Green, since the boy has nowhere else to go. Thomlison’s murder investigation acts as a kind of Greek chorus commenting on the various threads of this moving novel: What could cause a man to commit such a violent act? What does this isolated community owe to one another? Can Tom find the peace he is searching for, even with blood on his hands? Can Pastor Green discover enough faith in our human condition to help Rust’s orphaned son, and can their growing bond perhaps offer the family life that each is sorely lacking?

Salvation is a stunning debut novel that tackles big themes with moving prose and a propulsive plot set against the grand and sometimes foreboding natural beauty of the Rocky Mountain West.

C. William Langsfeld lives in a small town on Colorado’s Western Slope.

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