Open Bar Reviews and Updates

Plus: Book Club meeting next Tuesday (June 24)!

Four years ago I was eagerly preparing for the publication of my debut novel Final Table and trying to figure out an idea for a follow-up novel. As I biked with my family on the Bronx River Parkway, I started thinking about some of the chaotic and toxic situations I’ve seen develop as companies and universities seek to investigate complex, high-profile sexual misconduct investigations. (I know, I really need to think about more relaxing things when biking.) I began to consider how the news media often covers such cases, but they’re generally unable to tell the inside story of the real behind-the-scenes problematic battles when campus, corporate, and local political interests don’t neatly align with seeking justice for those involved.

That was the beginning of my journey to writing Open Bar, which will be published by SparkPress and distributed by Simon & Schuster in eight weeks on August 12. Since that bike ride four years ago, there’s been a lot of writing, re-writing, editing, invaluable advice from beta readers, more re-writing, and even more editing and re-writing. But finally, it’s (almost) here…

At this point in the publishing process, various publications receive advance copies for review, and I’m excited to share some of them below. I previously mentioned that Kirkus Reviews called Open Bar “A timely and absorbing novel that asks what it costs to tell the truth” and said, “Schorr’s prose is clean, fast-moving, and often laced with dark humor.” Here are a couple of other book sites that just reviewed Open Bar:

I’d also like to share the Open Bar audiobook cover, which I received last week:

And here’s a link to listen to the first chapter of the Open Bar audiobook, narrated by Moniqua Plante.

I very much appreciate everyone’s support as the Open Bar pub day draws closer - thank you!

Next Book Club Meeting

Our next Book Club meeting will be in next week on Tuesday, June 24 at 8pm ET, when we’ll discuss North Woods by Daniel Mason. Registration is open here. This novel is described as “A sweeping novel about a single house in the woods of New England, told through the lives of those who inhabit it across the centuries—a daring, moving tale of memory and fate from the Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Piano Tuner and The Winter Soldier.”

Feel free to attend even if you don’t have time to read the book before then, and please pass on the info to anyone else who might be interesting in joining!

Welcome New Subscribers!

Thank you so much for joining me on my reading, writing, and publishing journey. I welcome all of your comments, questions, and suggestions for future newsletters. If you already subscribe, please share with other readers and writers: