Bad Questions

Description

Humorous and heartbreaking, Bad Questions is a coming-of-age journey toward redemption and self-awareness, skirting the lines between spirituality, skepticism, and faith-and asking the big questions. From the light of the memorial candle back to 1971 in suburban Washington DC, Bad Questions is the story of Billy Blumberg, who carries guilt over the recent death of his father, a Hebrew school principal. After Billy and his mother move across Montgomery County in suburban Maryland, he encounters Ms. Marvin, a former teacher notorious for her macabre eccentricity. A séance in her apartment veers out of control, leading to a deadly "hex list" and Billy's discovery of his father's fatal secret. The winner of the 2023 Washington Writers' Publishing House Fiction Award. Bad Questions is Len Kruger's debut novel.

Product Details

Price

$18.95

Publisher

Washington Writers' Publishing House

Publish Date

October 03, 2023

Pages

234

Dimensions

5.5 X 8.5 X 0.53 inches | 0.66 pounds

Language

English

Type

Paperback

EAN/UPC

9781941551356

BISAC Categories:

General

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About the Author

Len Kruger lives in Washington, D.C., and is a graduate of the MFA Program at the University of Maryland. His short fiction has appeared in Zoetrope-All Story, The Barcelona Review, Gargoyle, Potomac Review, and the anthology This is What America Looks Like. He was the fiction winner of the 2021 annual writing contest sponsored by the Inner Loop and District Fray Magazine. Like Billy Blumberg, the main character in Bad Questions, Len grew up in Silver Spring and Rockville, Maryland in the 1960s and 70s. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Len worked for thirty-seven years at the Library of Congress where he did research for Congressional offices. In addition to writing fiction, Len is a storyteller and has performed on stage at many Washington, D.C. area storytelling venues, including The Moth DC, Story District, The Story Collider, and Better Said Than Done. Bad Questions is his debut novel. Find out more at www.lenkruger.com.

Reviews

PRAISE FOR BAD QUESTIONS

Remember adolescence, when life was an alphabet soup of questions? Some goofy, some embarrassing and some so painful and profound that adults no longer dare to ask them. In Bad Questions, Len Kruger evokes that time perfectly with a story that is funny and deeply moving. I'll never forget it. - Corey Flintoff, former foreign correspondent, National Public Radio.

Tender and raw, intimate and universal, Len Kruger's Bad Questions evokes a loss-haunted boyhood in a voice as warm-hearted as it is stark. I love this novel, and so will you: an unforgettable gift from a wonderful writer. - Joyce Kornblatt, novelist, author of Mother Tongue, The Reason for Wings, White Water, Nothing to do with Love, and Breaking Bread.

Insightful and poignant, Len Kruger's writing glitters with keen observations of suburban Maryland in the early '70s. An adult's story seen from a young boy's point of view, Bad Questions rings with emotional truths that resonate vividly and viscerally today. - Suzanne Feldman, 2022 winner of the WWPH Fiction Award for The Witch Bottle and Other Stories.

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