Wednesday, December 22, 2021

December 22, 2021: Wishes for the AMST Elves: Ilene Railton’s Novel

[As ever, a holiday week series of wishes for the AmericanStudies Elves—this time focused on some of the communities and folks I love most. Leading up to a special post on a holiday wish for us all!]

As part of this year’s Valentine’s week series on short stories I love, I highlighted the short stories and creative writing in progress of my favorite writer, my Mom Ilene Railton. While all those short stories to date are excellent and I hope you all get a chance to read them in published form at some point, Ilene has over the past year moved more fully into work on a novel, a truly exceptional book that combines mystery and memory, memoir and collective history, and more in ways that echo some of my favorite mystery stories, from the novels of Ross MacDonald to the film Memento to the third (and best) season of True Detective. If ever a first novel deserved to be published and find an audience, it’s this book—so AmericanStudies Elves, today’s wish is that Ilene Railton’s stunning debut book becomes part of our cultural landscape in the next year!

Next wish tomorrow,

Ben

PS. What wishes would you beam out to the Elves?

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