Literary Fiction, Novel in Verse
Date Published: June 7th, 2023
Publisher: Jackson Heights Press
A lethal plague sweeps the globe. Millions have died. Survivors are confined to their homes.
Gabriel passes his time in a small New York apartment on the city's Upper West Side. During the plodding solitude of the lockdown, he observes several strangers in their nearby apartments. As he watches them struggle to survive a world at risk of extinction, he wonders about their lives—where they're from, what they value, how they're coping with a deadly contagion. All alone, he develops a vague yet important connection to these people, an affection for those who are struggling to survive isolation, fear and looming death.
Told in powerful, spellbinding free verse, Gabriel's observations grow deeper and more elaborate as the endless days pass. But when he and a woman from across the street begin to watch each other from afar, his imagination begins to collide with the bleak reality of the times.
Praise for A Plague of Mercies
"... a captivatingly unconventional love story ... brilliantly observant poetry that captures a dark moment in our recent history." —Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
Praise for Adam Pelzman's The Boy and the Lake
"Pelzman excels at creating an intensely atmospheric setting and revealing how it shapes his characters' identities and worldviews … The narrative is full of rich, descriptive language … a well-developed vintage setting and classic but thought-provoking coming-of-age theme." —Kirkus Reviews
Runner up for 2021 Selfies Book Awards U.S.
Praise for Adam Pelzman's Troika (A Cuban Russian American Love Story)
"Riveting drama and sensuous prose make for an unforgettable love story … [a] beautifully rendered debut." —Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)
"Pelzman's talent and vision are formidable …" —Publishers Weekly
"… transcendent, magnetic, intoxicating …" —Bookreporter
There is a woman who
lives in a building in New York City,
on the Upper West Side.
A man just a few years
older lives in a building across the street.
These two people live at
the same elevation,
the same height,
one hundred feet above
the pavement,
above the crust of the
earth.
They can see into each
other’s apartments.
Every night before the
woman gets into bed
she puts on a threadbare
gray shirt.
The shirt is long and
sleeveless and extends down to her knees.
She turns off the ceiling
light
and then turns on a
nightlight near her bed.
The light casts an amber
glow reminiscent of a campfire.
The man in the other
apartment wonders if the nightlight
is the woman’s response
to a fear of the dark,
to a threat real or
imagined,
an antidote of sorts.
After she turns on the
nightlight
she looks briefly through
her window.
Perhaps she is reflecting
on another day passed.
Perhaps she is
considering the quality of her life,
or the quantity that
remains.
Perhaps she is scanning
the dark street for signs of life,
for hope in any of its
many forms.
About the Author
Adam Pelzman was born in Seattle, raised in northern New Jersey, and has spent most of his life in New York City. He studied Russian literature at the University of Pennsylvania and went to law school at UCLA. His first novel, Troika, was published by Penguin (Amy Einhorn Books) and later republished by Jackson Heights Press as A Cuban Russian American Love Story. He is also the author of The Papaya King (which Kirkus Reviews described as "entrancing" and "deeply memorable") and The Boy and the Lake (which is set in New Jersey during the late 1960s). His newest novel, A Plague of Mercies, is available for pre-order now.
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