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A Milwaukee Inheritance
David Milofsky
“A Milwaukee Inheritance is, as advertised, a loving, knowing paean to the Cream City, itself, but also to our great American middle—about which not enough can be written—and as such has its own honest inheritances in Howells, Anderson, Bellow, Gass, Oates, Dybek—all heroes and—among whom David Milofsky’s measured, poignant, plain-spoke midwestern sentences and intelligence stand out vividly. It’s a novel that welcomes us”
—Richard Ford
Successful Yale Law School grad Andy Simonson returns to Milwaukee if not in triumph, at least thinking he is better off than his blue-collar upbringing. But coming home again isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. A childhood friend lands him an associate gig at a big downtown firm and Andy settles into a lakeside mansion with his mercurial wife, Moira. But when his artist mother exacts a deathbed promise that he take over as landlord of her rundown duplex on the East Side, complete with delinquent occupants, Andy is forced to decide which vows he can honor.
As Moira’s obsession with starting a family and the temptations of her friend Patsy threaten to upend his marriage, Andy is roped into an unwinnable domestic dispute involving his shady tenant, and former classmate, Frankie “The Pin” Pignatano. A Milwaukee Inheritance is a slow-burning, finely textured portrait of family dynamics, the secrets between generations, and how the shadows of the past can keep you from moving into the future.
David Milofsky is a professor emeritus of English at Colorado State University. He is the author of the novels Playing from Memory, Eternal People, and Color of Law.
Author's Website - davidmilofskyauthor.com
Praise
“About marriage, mortality and everything in between. . . . Takes unexpected twists near the end.”
—Shepherd Express
“A deftly crafted novel. . . . Engages the reader from beginning to end.”
—Midwest Book Review
“Early in a work, when readers know they’re in good hands, they smile and sit back to enjoy the ride. David Milofsky brings that skill to the subtle and wise story of a marriage’s loving mistakes and understandings.”
—Joanne Greenberg
“Milofsky packs his classic you‐can’t‐go‐home‐again tale with entertaining twists and layers of conflict. Add to that a young man’s turmoil about morality, friendship, marriage, children, and his role in the world and you have a book that needs to be read.”
—Patricia Skalka
“Why Andy comes back is a powerful, perhaps profound question. He wants to delve into the world of his past in Milwaukee to learn more about who his enigmatic mother really was, and is willing to be a better man through his sacrifices to others, both living and dead.”
—Brian Rieselman, author of Where Darkness Sleeps
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Larger images
September 2019
LC: 2019008116 PS
232 pp. 5.5 x 8.5
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