The Best Gift Books for 2021 -Part IV: More Author Friends

We have so many wonderful writers and authors on HumorOutcasts.com and we are proud of them and all their books!  It’s funny how so many of them are lawyers…Anyway, check out their work! 

Kimiko Chou, Girl Samurai  by Con Chapman

Book Description: KIMIKO CHOU is a girl on a mission. Her mother and brother have been killed by robbers in 14th century Japan while her father, a samurai warrior, is off on an invasion of Korea.

Chou (“butterfly” in Japanese) narrowly escapes death by hiding while the robbers ransack her home, then-dressed as a boy in her brother’s clothes-she goes in quest of her father. Alone on the road, she takes up with Hyōgo Narutomi, a former samurai who has been dismissed by seven previous masters, and Moto Mori, his page.

The three of them-man, boy, and girl-make their way across Japan along with Piebald, an old horse with a curious spot on his coat that resembles a Fenghuang, the mythical bird that rules over all others in Asian mythology. Together this unlikely trio experience a series of adventures and narrow escapes until Chou and Mori-but not Narutomi-land in Korea. There, as a spy for the Koreans, Chou searches for her father-across enemy lines!

Con Chapman is a Boston-area writer, author most recently of “Rabbit’s Blues: The Life and Music of Johnny Hodges” (Oxford University Press), winner of the 2019 Book of the Year award of the Hot Club de France. His work has appeared in The Atlantic, The Christian Science Monitor, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald and a number of literary magazines.

Follow Con Chapman on Facebook and Twitter

NEXT UP: 

Ira Spiro: Before Covid by Dan Naturman

Ira Spiro is a stand-up comic and screenwriter who, a short time after winning an Oscar for “Best Original Screenplay” for his hit romantic comedy Jackson Taylor’s Christmas Party, slides back into near obscurity as his anxieties and complexes overwhelm his ability to capitalize on his new found fame. After a particularly disastrous stand-up performance leaves Ira wondering if he’ll ever be able to get on stage again, he is unexpectedly presented with a lucrative contract to write a memoir. Working with a ghostwriter, Ira reflects on his life as he puts his traumatic childhood experiences and complicated personal relationships into prose. As the Covid-19 pandemic sends the world into lockdown, Ira comes to understand why he has unconsciously sabotaged his career and, while he was at it, pushed away the love of his life.

“How annoyingly good is this book. The always funny Dan Naturman wrote a great novel full of surprises.”

  • Jim Gaffigan

“For Dan Naturman to take on a novel about a neurotic comedian and his fear of success is so out of his wheelhouse it’s mind blowing. I’m kind of torn. I think this book could sell millions of copies, but the potential adverse effect on Dan may not be worth it.”

  • Howie Mandel

“Dan brings his uniquely hilarious point of view to every page in this novel. I didn’t want it to end.”

  • Ophira Eisenberg, host of NPR’s Ask Me Another.

Dan Naturman is a stand-up comedian who has appeared on America’s Got TalentLate Show with David Letterman, and The Conan O’Brien Show and was also a regular on the HBO series Crashing. Dan has an undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a JD from the Fordham University School of Law, though he has never practiced. In his spare time, he enjoys studying French and trying to acquire a moderate level of competence on guitar. He lives alone and has issues with close relationships.

 

Follow Dan on Twitter and Facebook

 

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