8 thoughts on “AWAY Paperback #1 on the LA Times Best Seller List

  1. Dear Ms. Bloom:

    I look forward to purchasing and reading Away. I will be purchasing and reading other books you’ve written, too. I’m afraid I was unacquainted with your work until several weeks ago.

    I just by chance finished reading your wonderful nonfiction book Normal yesterday, the day my November issue of The Atlantic arrived with the article by Hanna Rosin titled “A Boy’s Life.”

    Thank you so much for writing Normal. It reduced my “freak” impression of a variety of sexually diverse classes of people the same way my friendship with gay men, in the later part of my career, reduced my uneasiness about homosexuals.

    My interest in transgender and hermaphrodite issues was piqued several years ago when a college student of mine (I taught philosophy & world religions at a community college)returned to the school to thank me for the experiences she had in my classes. I asked her what she was currently doing and she said she was touring the nightclub circuit with a group of performers doing stand-up comedy about being hermaphrodites.

    I was stunned, but tried not to show it. This delightful young lady was so delicately beautiful I actually had thoughts, at that very moment, of how lovely it would be to have her as a daughter.

    So we then began discussing our mutual admiration of Flannery O’Connor’s short story, “A Temple of the Holy Ghost.”

    I’ve sent an email out to numerous friends telling them about your terrific book Normal. It’s far better than Hanna Rosin’s article.

    Your writing is wonderfully clear, expressive, and compassionate.

    Sincerely,

    Blanchard DeMerchant, Ph.D.

  2. Dear Ms. Bloom

    I am a student of Airlangga University in Surabaya,Indonesia. I’m planning to use your book entitled ‘Away’ for my thesis. Since there are very limited sources that i’ve found, may I have your email addres and ask few questions to support my thesis?Thank you.
    Sincerely.
    Anggiawan Pratama

  3. Dear Ms. Bloom,
    By the time I reached the end of Lillian’s journey in Away, I was so emotionally invested that I needed an outlet; it became something personal, a poem mainly focusing on journey’s end. I plan to contact your assistant and ask permission to send my poem to you. Here is a brief excerpt of “To Lillian”:
    Your story shook me,
    Lillian, a solitary out there
    in the Yukon wilderness,
    blistered, lice-infested,
    Burying strangers,
    Navigating icy waters,
    Exploited by men and women…

    In a landscape with no choices,
    You took your heavy satchel
    and kept moving
    Moving until
    one shapeless, unformed step
    turned you around…
    You unconsciously knew
    to turn back. (There’s more…Thank you)
    Carol Pasiecznik

  4. Dear Ms. Bloom, My group had the phoner with you and enjoyed it very much. You mentioned that you are writing about Hollywood screenwriters in the 1940s (women). A member of our group had a mother-in-law who was a very influential writer. She was one of Garbo’s best friends and wrote the screenplays for five of her movies including Anna Karenina. All of the most famous stars and authors including people like Einstein and Chaplin frequented her “salon”. The name of the book is THE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS by Salka Viertel. What an amazing book. I was totally enthralled. Colleen Casler

  5. Somewhere in the early pages of “Away,” I found myself slowing down, taking time to drink it in, to taste it, as if luxuriating in the relief of a thirst. Like a fish, I was caught between not wanting to put it down and not wanting it to end. It wasn’t as much the story, which was strong and rich, reeling me in, but the balance, elegance, craftsmanship, technique of the writing. Really, it’s artistry. Until “Away,” I was unacquainted with Bloom’s writing. Reading the interview and bio at the back, it hit me why I relished the book so much—it’s a novel written in the discipline, with the skill, of short story—strong word economy, textured detail. I’m in love with this writing! Never before have I thought, “I wish I could write like THAT.” Bloom’s “Away” sets an exquisite height, an alluring goal, for all writers to aspire to.

  6. Dear Amy Bloom
    While reading “Away” I came on a referrence to a Morris Teighblum…………..at that point I realized that you must be a daughter to Murray Teigh Bloom. I had the pleasure of meeting your father twice. First he came to my apartment in New York in 1951 to interview my brother-in-law and my sister regarding their life as travel film makers and lecturers. Then in 1978 (I think) we met again in Costa Rica. I was again with my sister and, recognizing his name, I informed my sister,after which the three of us had a lovely day together ending with dinner and great conversation.
    Away is my first experience with your excellent writing abilities………it will be followed by reading all your other books.

    I was sorry to hear ofyour father’s passing this year.
    Molly Draper

  7. Ms. Bloom,

    I just finished reading “Away,” and enjoyed it a lot.

    I was a little confused by the very end of the book. I kept re-reading it, and I could not
    quite figure out what was happening.
    Is it Lillian finding John’s dead body?

    Thanks,
    Sue Hanrahan

  8. Dear Amy Bloom,

    You are simply one of the most extraordinary writers I have ever read. “Away” hit me like a tsunami to my heart. I’m now reading “A Blind Man Can See How Much I Love You,” and I have your newest book on reserve at the library…although I may shell out and buy it. You make me feel human in the best possible way — as though every part of me, the dark as well as the sweet, is normal. You take my breath away.

    I used to read your column in “New Woman,” and it took until I became unemployed and stopped reading for work (I’m a writer and an editor) for me to find you and read the way I used to — for the sheer joy of it. Thank you so much. I’ll try to get to one of your readings in NYC.

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