David Wagoner
David Wagoner (1926- 2021) was a two-time National Book Award finalist, an acclaimed poet, respected novelist and a beloved University of Washington professor. He won many prestigious awards, including two Pushcart Prizes, and was the author of ten novels, all of which we are re-issuing here and under our Cutting Edge imprint, and many poetry collections. He was also the editor of Poetry Northwest until 2002 served as chancellor of the Academy of American Poets in 1978.
Books by David Wagoner
The Hanging Garden
"This is a powerful, shocking story, the full pay-off of David Wagoner's astonishing talent." James Dickey, author of terrifying classic Deliverance
Simon Burrows is a divorced, retired politician looking who retires to the country with his new, young girlfriend to raise show dogs. But his simple dream turns into a gruesome nightmare when he discovers that his neighbors, and the verdant, tranquil landscape around him, hide an unspeakable horror...
The Escape Artist
Danny Masters is a teenage magician, pick-pocket and escape artist who learned it all from his late father. All he wants to do is make it in the big city. But along the way he picks the wrong pocket, stealing a wallet full of stolen cash, and finds himself having to use all of his skills just to stay alive… while still chasing his dreams.
The Man in the Middle
The first book by acclaimed novelist and poet David Wagoner, back in print for the first time in 70 years, hailed by the Los Angeles Times as ”a breathtaking novel filled with terror and pathos.”
Middle-aged Charlie Bell, a crippled watchman at a railroad crossing, sees a woman thrown out of passing train. He takes the injured woman, and the briefcase she was clutching, with him in search of a phone. She’s a reporter, and the briefcase contains papers that could destroy a corrupt Senator. But before Charlie can get her help, a thug attacks them and kills her. Now Charlie is relentlessly pursued through the Chicago underworld by cops who think he’s a murderer…and killers intent on silencing him.
Featured Book
Rock By David Wagoner
It is 1958. Max Fallon, fleeing the wreckage of his marriage and career, returns to his lakeside home town and a job as a beach lifeguard. He discovers that his old neighborhood, beneath its seemingly unchanged veneer, is seething with violence, ruled by a brutal group of young men, including his own teenage brother, that is led by a hard woman who uses her ruthless sexuality as a deadly weapon.
