Search results for ""author stephen spotte""
Three Rooms Press Animal Wrongs
In a medieval French courtroom, animals are put on trial for "crimes" against mankind and must rely on preposterous legal diatribes by a court-appointed lawyer to defend them—great for fans of Umberto Eco, Edward Carey, and Amor Towles. Historical fiction has never been more uproarious as master storyteller Stephen Spotte unleashes this wild tale of opposing attorneys battling to defend or prosecute accused animals—including a rat and a pig—facing penalties of being hanged or burned alive at the stake: Think Willard meets The Name of the Rose. Based on actual court records, Spotte captures the wit and bluster of the era, where courtrooms were packed with cheering and heckling spectators in ever-more opaque, convoluted, and dilatory trials. By the end of this novel, Spotte uses his critically-acclaimed storytelling skills to explore still-relevant theories on legal precedent, the church vs. the state, mankind’s place in nature, and animal rights. Hilarious insights into pride, greed, and some of the most bizarre court trials in the history of the world. "Spotte is a master storyteller,” says Library Journal and in ANIMAL WRONGS, this acclaimed author is at his peak.
£11.99
Three Rooms Press My Watery Self: Memoirs of a Marine Scientist
In My Watery Self: An Aquatic Memoir, author/scientist Stephen Spotte traces a fascinating trail through a life that began in West Virgina coal camps, drifted through reckless bohemian times of countercultural indulgence in Beach Haven, New Jersey, and led to a career as a highly-respected marine biologist. Together, these stories form a view not just of one man's life, but that of a generation that often refused to take a direct path to the workplace, insisting instead on a winding unveiling of true self-realization, to achieve previously-unimagined outcomes. For Spotte, the key was water: His years of beach living led to a self-initiated study of literature and the sea. He eventually returned to college and received his training as a marine biologist, and discovered, through his singular voice, a wet and occasionally very weird perspective on the world. His writing is engrossing throughout, the stories he shares--such as his stint as curator of the New York Aquarium at Coney Island at the tail end of the hippie era--are compelling and thoroughly enjoyable as he elevates the people and situations he encounters to mythical levels, blending empirical observation with literary prose.
£11.99