Arts & Leisure
York High School graduate releases new book
By Jennifer L. Saunders
Almost 18 years later, Petrovich, is still a writer and now works in publishing in New York, where he has released his debut, "The Session: A Novella in Dialogue" through Hotel St. George Press, and local residents will have the chance to hear those words in Petrovich's own voice, with a reading at River Run Bookstore in Portsmouth, N.H.
"It's what I've always done, as long as I can remember," Petrovich said of his love of writing. "I'm always most comfortable with a notebook in my hand."
Petrovich's "The Session" is the debut book from the new, experimental Akashic Books imprint of the Brooklyn-based Hotel St. George Press.
"The Session" is illustrated with 14 original monotypes by Czech artist Vilem Benes and is written completely in dialogue. The book's two characters share the same name and occupation - Detective Smith and Detective Smith - and happen upon a strange new religion while endeavoring to solve the murder of a mathematician.
At times, the two characters become unable to discern whether they are speaking to each other or to themselves with what has been described as "pitch-perfect language reminiscent of Beckett, Chandler and Duras."
Petrovich explained the two men spend more time talking at each other rather than to each other.
In an interview from his Brooklyn, N.Y., home, Petrovich explained his love of exploring dialogue, conversation, the ability to communicate and the struggles of miscommunication between people.
"Nearly everything I write boils down to my inability to communicate anything to anyone," he said, laughing.
His novella is filled with humor and has a frantic pace of conversation, one he is looking forward to sharing with listeners in the Seacoast as part of his national tour with his debut book. And, Petrovich will use his own background in theatre to bring the audience into the story and share his vision and experience of writing the book by reading it aloud.
Petrovich writes both fiction and theatre pieces and is a regular contributor to the "Exquisite Corpse" and associate editor at Akashic Books. His theatrical works have appeared in the Midtown International Theatre Festival, Manhattan Theatre Source, Improvised and Otherwise, the Estrogenius Festival and the New York Solo Play Lab.
To use the words of Andrei Codrescu, "Petrovich is Beckett's organ."
Petrovich said he is looking forward to coming home to the town where he grew up and seeing the ocean from York's beaches again.
Petrovich will read from "The Session" on Thursday, April 12, at 7 p.m. at River Run Bookstore, 20 Congress St., Portsmouth, N.H., and will head to Books, Etc., at 38 Exchange St. in Portland on Friday, April 13, for a 7 p.m. reading. Then it's out to the West Coast for appearances in Los Angeles and Berkeley, Calif., and Portland, Ore.
For more about "The Session," visit www.akashicbooks.com.
