CHARLIE FIG and THE LIP IN BORDEAUX, FRANCE – September 24th, 2015
On September 24th the Bordeaux-US Book Club, (they only read American Literature), held their monthly meeting to discuss my novel, “Charlie Fig and the Lip”. As the members of the club read and speak English, an interpreter was not needed. Thirty members attended the meeting, and, through Skype, one American, moi.
I read an excerpt from the book, followed by an hour and a half period of comments and questions.
They asked about my writing process. Did I outline, or find the story and characters as wrote? Is it autobiographical? How did I find the voices? Does the amusement park exist? The village? The trolley line? Why did I choose the setting and time period? Were the characters based on people I knew, or pulled from my imagination? They also wanted to know how I developed the characters and the novel’s structure. And they asked about Brooklyn 1959, a setting and time period they found fascinating.
A book club in France had read my novel. That they had chosen to read it had been a pleasant surprise, but their enthusiasm for the book, how carefully they had read it, and the astuteness of their questions truly astonished me.
QUEENS MAGAZINE – Spring, 2015
The following item about Steven Charnow and Paul Simon, members of the same graduating class, appeared in the Alumni News section of the Spring 2015 issue of Queens; The Magazine of Queens College. Charnow publishing his first novel, Charlie Fig and the Lip, while Simon was the subject of a fifty-year career retrospective at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The appearance of the item elicited a flood of commentary, Queens College alumni pointing out the “bookend” character of the item: one member of the class at the beginning of his novelist career; the other looking back over a decades-long music career.
SANTA MONICA DAILY PRESS – June 10th, 2015
The Santa Monica Daily Press, covering Santa Monica and the Westside of Los Angeles, CA, has taken note of the publication of Santa Monica resident, Steven Charnow’s novel.
SAN FRANCISCO BOOK FESTIVAL – May 23rd, 2015
Charlie Fig and the Lip was awarded an honorable mention in the General Fiction competition held by the San Francisco Book Festival. The award ceremony was held May 23rd, 2015 at the Sir Francis Drake Hotel in San Francisco.
VROMANS BOOKSTORE READING – February 8, 2015
Steven Charnow read an excerpt from his novel, Charlie Fig and the Lip. He was one of several authors reading that afternoon at an event sponsored by Independent Writers of Southern California. Vroman’s Bookstore in Pasadena, CA graciously provided the space.
BOOK LAUNCH PARTY – January 11th, 2015
The party celebrating the launch of Steven Charnow’s novel, Charlie Fig and the Lip, was held on January 11, 2015 at Blank Spaces in Santa Monica, California. The author read an excerpt from the book. He signed copies as seventy guests enjoyed appetizers and wine.
