I'd wondered about my mother all my life -- what she looked like, how she smelled and sounded and acted. Lately this wondering had grown to encompass a curiosity about the kind of people she herself came from, because they were my family, too, after all, even though I knew nothing about them. I'd no idea whether they were loud or soft-spoken, funny or boring, preferred chocolate to vanilla, if they liked movies over books or the other way around. I wondered whether any of them had ever done anything magnificent in their lives, or if they were the kind of folks who were satisfied with just getting by. These things were important -- knowing them would help me to know myself, and the only way that would happen was if I went and looked for her.
With all his possessions on his motorcycle, Billy Mann sets off on a cross-country odyssey from New York to Santa Fe in search of a mother who deserted him long ago. What Billy discovers, however, is a life rich with possibility -- the chance for love, friendship, and, finally, a family to call his own.

Somewhere South of Here

Literature & Fiction

Kowalski, William

Dramas & Plays

Harper-perennial

"There was something irrevocably different about my life, about who I was and how I came to be, that made me nothing like other kids my age; and what was more, it was too late to do anything about it. It had always been too late, in a sense. . . ."
In this rich, deeply resonant literary debut, twenty-eight-year-old William Kowalski explores the power of family, the meaning of history, and the bonds of individuals united and shaped by love--a wondrous novel in the grand storytelling tradition of John Irving and Wally Lamb. 
"Eddie's Bastard" is one William Amos Mann IV, fondly known as Billy, the illegitimate blue-eyed son of "Ready Eddie" Mann--a legendary golden athlete and brave pilot killed in Vietnam--and an unknown mother. The last in a line of proud, fiercely individualistic Irish-American men, Billy is discovered in a basket on the doorstep of the once grand farmhouse that is his ancestral family home, now a dusty, haunted mansion. The sole inhabitant is Billy's grandfather, Thomas, a bitter and lonely recluse who will raise Billy on love, fried baloney sandwiches, and the fascinating lore of the Mann family itself. While his birth may have been inauspicious, Billy's life is destined for greatness. He is a Mann, Grandpa reminds him daily, the progeny of an indomitable family scarred by success and tragedy.
Through the whisky-tinged tales of his grandfather, Billy learns how the clan's fortune was discovered by his great-great-grandfather and namesake, Willie, a hero of the Civil War, and how it was lost by Thomas himself, a veteran of World War II, in a scheme known as the Great Ostrich Fiasco of 1946. As he matures into adolescence, Billy will eventually capture these stories on paper, a tradition begun by his great-great-grandfather, who confessed his secrets in a journal he kept throughout his life.
Through the tales of his ancestors and his own experiences, Billy learns of bravery and cowardice, of life and death, of the heart's capacity for love and for unremitting hatred, eventually grasping the meaning and true beauty of family and history and their power to shape destiny. Here, too, are the unforgettable people who will indelibly mark him, including the generous and loving Dr. Connor, his grandfather's best friend and the man who holds the key to the secrets of Billy's past and the promise of his future; the charmingly offbeat Shumachers, a "loud, Teutonic, and vibrantly healthy" tribe of Pennsylvania Dutch farmers who care for young Billy when his grandfather is hospitalized after a freak accident; Elsie Orfenbacher, a ripe, energetic woman who will later introduce him to the pleasures of manhood; and the love of Billy's life, Annie Simpson, an ethereal girl with a dark mystery that will first bring them together and then threaten to drive them apart.
A novel of discovery, of a young man's emergence into the world and the endless possibilities for greatness it offers, Eddie's Bastard is a luminous reading experience, a novel steeped in imagery and lyricism that marks the debut of a talented new writer. "My life has been made of stories from beginning to end, and just when it seems one is ending, a new one begins. The world itself is woven of stories, each man and woman and child of us threading our own brightly colored tale into the bigger story that was already being told as we were born, and that will continue to be woven by others long after our threads have run out..." -- from Eddie's Bastard

Eddie's Bastard: A Novel

United States

Harper

With his first novel, Eddie's Bastard, William Kowalski brought to the literary scene an engaging and original voice in fiction. With appealingly offbeat characters, a narrative steeped with imagery and threaded with lyricism, and a story filled with unexpected surprises, Eddie's Bastard earned such praise as "a grand debut" (Gail Godwin), "exuberant" (the New York Times) and "appealing" (People magazine), and marked the emergence of an important writer. Kowalski now fulfills that promise in Somewhere South of Here, the tale of a young man's search for the mother he's never met.
As Billy Mann grew up, his only link to the father who died in Vietnam and the mother who deserted him was his hard-drinking grandfather, Thomas Mann, who raised him on a diet of fried bologna sandwiches and mythic tales of the Mann family ancestry. With Grandpa gone, Billy has lost his only known blood relation and sole link to his heritage. The lone clue he possesses to his mother's whereabouts is her last-known address, somewhere in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Propelled by hope and heartache, Billy sets off on a cross-country odyssey from his home in upstate New York.
Arriving in Santa Fe, carrying every possession he owns on the back of his motorcycle, Billy has taken the first step of an intoxicating journey of the heart as he courageously completes his rite of passage into manhood. Filled with vividly drawn characters, each of them with secrets and secret longings of their own,
Billy's world is suddenly rich with possibility -- the chance for love, friendship, and, finally a family to call his own.
Somewhere South of Here is a lyrical exploration of the stories that make up our lives, the redemptive power of love, and the faith that compels us to go on.

Somewhere South of Here: A Novel

Haley Bombauer, aka Flash Jackson, confronts the summer of her seventeenth year with glorious anticipation. She envisions herself roaming the hillsides and forests on her beloved horse, venturing farther and farther away from her sleepy hometown and her overprotective mother. But when Haley falls through the rotted roof of the barn, she is destined to spend the summer in a thigh-high cast, stuck at home with her mother, enduring visits from her spooky grandmother, and pondering the error of her impulsive ways. The year that follows will, in fact, transform not only her life but also the lives of those around her. Set in Mannville, New York, William Kowalski's signature town, here is the story of one young woman's emergence into a world that, in her words, "was not designed with girls in mind" and her efforts to find a way to fit in without giving up her independence.

The Adventures of Flash Jackson: A Novel

When Francie and Colt Hart drive past an abandoned 150-year-old farmhouse in rural Pennsylvania, they both fall head-over-heels in love with it - but for entirely different reasons. Colt, an ambitious, hard-charging stock trader, sees it as a potential showcase for his wealth. Francie, long dependent on antidepressants, hopes it will inspire her to resume the literary life she abandoned when she married Colt ten years before; perhaps, she thinks, it will save their faltering marriage. But the more they learn about the house, and especially the tragic history of its previous occupants (whose descendants are their new neighbors), the more it threatens to drive them apart. This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

The Good Neighbor: A Novel

"Eddie's Bastard" is William Amos Mann IV, known as Billy -- the son of a heroic pilot killed in Vietnam and an unknown woman. The last in a line of proud, individualistic Irish-American men, Billy is discovered in a basket at the door of the dilapidated mansion where his bitter, hard-drinking grandfather, Thomas Mann, has exiled himself. Astonished and moved by the arrival of his unexpected progeny, Thomas sets out to raise the boy himself -- on a diet of love, fried baloney, and the fascinating lore of their shared heritage. Listening to his sets out to capture the stories on paper. He is a Mann, Grandpa reminds him daily, and thus destined for greatness. 
Through the tales of his ancestors, his own experiences, and the unforgettable characters who enhance and enliven his adolescence, Billy learns of bravery and cowardice, of life and death, of the heart's capacity for love and for unremitting hatred, eventually grasping the meaning of family and history and their power to shape destiny. Steeped in imagery and threaded with lyricism, Eddie's Bastard is a novel of discovery, of a young man's emergence into the world, and the endless possibilities it offers.

Set in William Kowalski's signature town of Mannville, New York, The Adventures of Flash Jackson is the story of tomboyish Haley Bombauer and her ambition to bust out of the confines of her smalltown upbringing. With compassion and humor, the novel tells of her emergence into a world that, in her words, "was not designed with girls in mind," and her efforts to find a way to fit in without having to give up her beloved independence.
Introduced to a vivid and exciting imaginary life by her now-dead father, who bestowed upon her the nickname "Flash Jackson," Haley Bombauer confronts the summer of her seventeenth year with glorious anticipation. She envisions herself roaming the surrounding hillsides and forests on her beloved horse, Brother, venturing farther and farther away from her sleepy hometown and her ultracautious mother, who since the death of her husband has remained rooted firmly in the past.
But when Haley falls through the rotted roof of the barn, she is destined to spend the dog days of summer in a thigh-high cast, stuck at home with her mother, enduring visits from her spooky, unintelligible grandmother, pondering the error of her impulsive ways, and dreaming longingly of adventure. The year that follows will, in fact, transform not only her life but also the lives of those closest to her. Haley's "imprisonment" affords her peculiar grandmother the chance to see finally what the girl is made of-and to pass along some of the mysterious and mystical arts that only she remembers. As Haley comes to understand just who her grandmother is, and what the old woman can teach her, she is transformed-from a tomboy reluctant to accept her femininity to an extraordinary, powerful woman.
Steeped in imagery and lyricism, touched with the wisp of magical realism that has become William Kowalski's trademark, The Adventures Of Flash Jackson is a poignant and hilarious tale of self-discovery and the redemptive powers of love.

When Colt and Francie Hart stumble upon an empty 150-year-old house during a weekend drive in the country, they each fall in love with it and want to buy it -- for entirely different reasons. For Colt, the house will become a trophy representing his enormous success at trading stocks. For Francie, a blocked poet, the house seems to whisper hints for reawakening her creativity.
Picking up the house for a song, the couple begins the transition from city dwelling to country life and find for the first time in too long that they have something to work on together. Yet the more the Harts learn about the house, its history, and its previous inhabitants, the more it drives them apart. And when Francie discovers an old family cemetery hidden on the property, it somehow brings out qualities in each of them that come as a total surprise to the other.
Events that conspire to destroy their marriage could just as easily bring the couple together again in this story of two people who, in looking for a place to call home, find themselves instead.

Billy was deposited as an infant on the doorstep of Thomas Mann's home in a basket with a message reading "Eddie's bastard." Eddie, Thomas' son, had died in Vietnam, so now suddenly, Thomas had a grandson and an heir - to the long legacy of the Mann family stories, stretching back to the Civil War.

Eddie's Bastard

Contemporary

Perennial / Harper-collins

Returning to the quirky small town of the acclaimed EDDIE'S BASTARD, Kowalski introduces the unforgettable Haley Bombauer - a truly offbeat and endearing heroine - as she teeters on the brink of womanhood. 'On my very last day of being 16 years old, I fell through the roof of our barn and broke my leg in three places. I was just in a climbing mood I guess - the kind of mood that can overtake a girl sometimes on a hot July day, thinking that if something glamorous doesn't happen soon, right that minute, she'd go crazy. 'Haley Bombauer, a.k.a 'Flash Jackson' seems doomed to spend the summer in a cast, absolutely bored out of her skull. But in a strange twist of fate, Haley's 'imprisonment' gives her peculiar grandmother the chance finally to see what the girl is made of - and maybe pass on to her some of the mysterious and mystical arts that only she knows. As Haley comes to understand just who her grandmother is, and what the old woman can teach her, she is transformed - from tomboy to extraordinary woman.

The Adventures of Flash Jackson

Genre Fiction

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Books by Kowalski, William

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Kowalski, William. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Somewhere South of Here

Eddie's Bastard: A Novel

Somewhere South of Here: A Novel

The Adventures of Flash Jackson: A Novel

The Good Neighbor: A Novel

Eddie's Bastard: A Novel

The Adventures of Flash Jackson: A Novel

The Good Neighbor: A Novel

Eddie's Bastard

The Adventures of Flash Jackson