While The Woman in the Sun Hat is my debut novel, as a seasoned playwright, I have often gravitated to character studies in a variety of genres, usually blending comedy with pathos. What was exciting for me in writing a novel was that I could really explore an even more nuanced arc of the central character. I am a Brooklyn, NY-based Playwright, Novelist, Screenwriter, Actor, and Poet. Recent publications include my play Day of the Dog (Broadway Play Publishing) and my debut poetry collection 104 Days of the Pandemic (fandango 4 Art House). My latest novel is Graphic Nature, due out later in 2022.
I wrote...
The Woman in the Sun Hat
By
Daniel Damiano
What is my book about?
Peggy Bubone is the envy of the Cold River, Long Island social scene: wife to a respected dermatologist, mother to two handsome children, and newly hired Literature teacher at a prestigious local high school...before a knock on her classroom door turns her world upside down with the shocking news of her husband's arrest. With her and her children soon ostracized and homeless, she embarks on a humorous yet harrowing journey, which ultimately leads her back to her undesirable roots and, eventually, a deep dive into her own psyche.
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The Books I Picked & Why
The Bell Jar
By
Sylvia Plath
Why this book?
This is an honest, eloquently told tale of a young woman's struggle with depression in a time (the 1950s) when few seemed to understand the illness, much less comprehend how to treat it. Of course, knowing enough of Plath’s life, it is challenging to separate the source from Esther Greenwood, the novel’s protagonist, since there are said to be close parallels with Plath's own experiences, but ultimately the quality of the writing transcends the morbidity and makes the journey of Esther quite rewarding.
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Ham on Rye
By
Charles Bukowski
Why this book?
Bukowski's coming-of-age novel depicts his fictional amalgam Henry Chinaski’s upbringing and various assorted traumas, some humorous, some very moving. Of Bukowski's novels that I've read,Ham on Rye is indeed the most focused and nuanced. What is probably its greatest feat is how Bukowski has no trepidation about painting himself (or more accurately, Henry) in a less than flattering light. By contrast, Bukowski does not deviate from his struggles, his apathy, his bitterness, his aimlessness. It's an honest, raw, funny, and very human journey definitely worth taking – especially for Bukowski admirers.
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White Oleander
By
Janet Fitch
Why this book?
The dark and complex relationship between a daughter (Astrid) and her poet mother (Ingrid) is the thrust of this engaging work. The story is seen through the eyes of Astrid as she struggles to find a sense of herself as she moves through an array of foster homes, while the aura of her mother and the crime that has led to her incarceration looms over Astrid’s life.
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The Complete Poems: Anne Sexton
By
Anne Sexton
Why this book?
While, yes, this is not a novel, there is a true character journey in reading the complete works of Ms. Sexton in sequence; a sort of poetic analysis the likes of which I have not read to such a soul-baring degree, as she depicts her thoughts and struggles with marriage, relationships, motherhood, her own parents and various other facets of her life. To me, Ms. Sexton is very much the symbol of what became the confessional poetry movement. The eloquence and depth of her writing, especially in poems like " The Double Image", "Flee on Your Donkey" and " For My Lover Returning to His Wife", are remarkable.
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Anna Karenina
By
Leo Tolstoy
Why this book?
While this mammoth work by Tolstoy has various plot threads, the one involving the title character is perhaps its most thorough and tragic, as Anna (a wife and mother) struggles in her marriage and embarks on an affair, only to find it no more gratifying and ultimately only serves to question her very purpose. The book is a thoughtful meditation on what so many of us live for and what recourse there is when our aspirations are shattered.
