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9781627202176

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Setting the Family Free reinforces Eric D. Goodman's powerful voice and imagination as one of Baltimore's most riveting and prolific writers. As with his former novels, Goodman captures the human condition through multiple and unpredictable lenses, illuminating our strengths and weaknesses in a presentation which merges past and present stories, intertwining conversations, and metaphorical geographies. However, Setting the Family Free takes that vision a step further, exploring the existence of the animal, both human and nonhuman, when pushed beyond its natural and enforced boundaries. The blurring between caged and free is violently, gracefully, and thoughtfully crafted, a true tale of terror--both within and without real and realized bars. -- Katherine Cottle, author of My Father>s Speech, Halfway: A Journal through Pregnancy, and I Remain Yours What a read! Part fable, part meditation, and total page-turner, Setting the Family Free is a rollicking read from first sentence to last. This engaging tale of a zoo that literally opens its doors is at once funny, terrifying, and sometimes heartbreaking. What Eric D. Goodman has managed to do with the sections told by the animals is something rare and wonderful. Look for this one on the 'Best of 2019' lists! -- Jerry Holt, author of The Killing of Strangers and Rickey After nearly 150 years of The Greatest Show on Earth, Ringling Brothers locked up the lion and tiger and camel and kangaroo cages for good not too long ago. Where did the animals go? Here, in Eric D. Goodman's latest literary circus, a good read under the Big Top of fine a craftsman's imagination. Step right up. -- Rafael Alvarez, author of Basilio Boullosa Stars in the Fountain of Highlandtown Warm, poignant, funny, and suspenseful, Eric D. Goodman's Setting the Family Free looks at the meaning of family from different, sometimes conflicting, perspectives. The unusual structure with its many points of view brings to life the individuals--including the animals--that make up the colorful cast of characters. This novel was a quick read: I flipped the pages rapidly, wanting to know what each character would say or do next and how that individual would affect the whole. Setting the Family Free is entertaining, but while reading, I also paused at particularly touching spots of the story to ponder on this messy, sometimes crazy, sometimes wonderful unit called family. -- Lucrecia Guerrero, author of the award-winning novel Tree of Sighs Sammy Johnson collects exotic animals on his rural Ohio property, which isn't a problem until suddenly it is, and then everybody wants in on the action. 'Dealing with the press could prove as unpleasant as dealing with wild animals, ' Deputy Chuck Ellison observes. But the press is only a part of it in Eric D. Goodman's rollicking story of things getting out of control. Toss in the law, psychologists, zoologists and even an old drinking buddy, and you start to get the full picture, vivid as the nightly news! -- Charles Rammelkamp, author of Mata Hari: Eye of the Day and American Zeitgeist

A generous, boisterous, surprising read, like a tiger in your back yard. -- Jacquelyn Mitchard, The Deep End of the Ocean, First Pick for Oprah's Book Club A supremely moving novel by turns ferocious and tender and funny from beginning to end. Goodman's finest book. -- Junot Diaz, Pulitzer Prize winning author of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao Warm, poignant, funny, and suspenseful. -- Lucrecia Guerrero, Tree of Sighs A good read under the Big Top of a fine craftsman's imagination. Step right up. -- Rafael Alvarez, The Fountain of Highlandtown One of Baltimore's most riveting and prolific writers. -- Katherine Cottle, The Hidden Heart of Charm City Part fable, part meditation, and total page-turner . . . at once funny, terrifying, and sometimes heartbreaking . . . rare and wonderful. -- Jerry Holt, The Killing of Strangers A good read written by a thoughtful and skilled writer. -- Bathsheba Monk, Nude Walker A rollicking story of things getting out of control . . . vivid as the nightly news! -- Charles Rammelkamp, American Zeitgeist Wild, wonderful, well written, and highly original. It's a jungle out there in this page-turner novel. -- Toby Devens, Happy Any Day Now A gripping read. This book will stay in my mind for years to come. -- Tom Glenn, Last of the Annamese A riveting page-turner. Goodman reveals a disturbing truth about human relationships: none of us is the same person to two or more others. Just as each of us is unique, so each relationship between individuals is unique. -- The Baltimore Review This is a book that satisfies on many levels. A kaleidoscopic ... that adds up to one seamless, gripping story that's both fast-paced disaster thriller and philosophical meditation on the intrinsic value of all living things. -- Loch Raven Review Every year, humans kill 50 billion animals for meat. Now, thanks to Goodman's Setting the Family Free, the animals are eating us . . . -- Mark Mirabello, Ph.D, Handbook for Rebels and Outlaws

Author Information

Eric D. Goodman is the author of Womb: a novel in utero (Merge ain Stories (Atticus Books, 2011), winner of the 2012 Gold Medal for Best Fiction in the Mid-Atlantic Region from the Independent Publisher Book Awards. He's also author of Flightless Goose (Writer's Lair Books, 2008), a storybook for children. He's curator and co-founder of the popular Lit and Art Reading Series and has read frequently from his fiction on Baltimore's NPR station, at book festivals and at literary events. Eric lives in Baltimore where he writes about wombs, trains, travel, and animals gone wild, among other things. Learn more about Eric and his writing at www.EricDGoodman.com or connect via www.Facebook.com/Edgewriter or www.Twitter.com/Edgewrite.

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