"Insightful and bittersweet, Outer Sunset is — without qualification — a terrific novel." — San Francisco Chronicle
REVIEWS
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"Insightful and bittersweet, Outer Sunset is — without qualification — a terrific novel."
— Kevin Canfield, San Francisco Chronicle
"It is rare for a novel to probe the psyches of its characters as deeply as Mark Ernest Pothier does in Outer Sunset. Many writers don't even suspect such depths exist. They do, though, and here's the proof."
—Richard Russo, author, Empire Falls and Somebody's Fool
"Outer Sunset traces one solitary man’s late reawakening and rediscovery of what was and still is best in his life. Mark Ernest Pothier’s debut is a wise and gentle meditation on last chances and the power of hope.”
—Stewart O’Nan, author, Emily, Alone and Ocean State
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“Beautiful and touching, Outer Sunset tells a stirring father-daughter tale about facing impending loss with faith, hope, forgiveness, and healing.”
—Foreword (starred review)
"The father and daughter at the heart of this beautiful novel entirely captured mine. Mark Ernest Pothier has written an affecting story, both serious and funny, about a self-sufficient middle-aged man who finds himself suddenly confronted with the messy work of love and forgiveness in the face of looming mortality. I read it with a sense of quiet urgency and finished it with great satisfaction.”
—Julia Glass, author, Three Junes and Vigil Harbor
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“[A]n original, compelling, memorable read by... an exceptionally gifted novelist with a genuine flair for the kind of narrative driven storytelling and impressively crafted characters that keeps his readers raptly engaged and fully involved.”
"Outer Sunset is elegant but not showy, straightforward but not simple, serious but not humorless. Its subjects—money, disease, divorce, death, belief—are laid out in a pattern as complex as the layers of San Francisco life that every page of this novel reveals. The characters are complex too, rich and full of mystery and revelations and surprises. This is a deeply pleasurable and satisfying read.”
—Valerie Sayers, author, The Age of Infidelity and Other Stories
News and Reviews
September 13, 2023—"I’m one of those people who often gets told: 'You have an old soul.'"
July 4, 2023—Bloom spoke with me about persistence, dreams, and growing through art.
June 20, 2023—"New Arrivals" first airs on KALW 91.7 FM on Tuesdays at 7:19 a.m. and 3:48 p.m. before being podcast.
June 1, 2023—The recorded reading and Q&A with the author at San Franisco's Mechanics Institute.
May 2023—"[A]n exceptionally gifted novelist with a genuine flair for the kind of narrative driven storytelling and impressively crafted characters that keeps his readers raptly engaged."
May 18, 2023—The recorded launch of Outer Sunset, with Rebecca Handler ("Edie Richter Is Not Alone").
May 8, 2023—Review of "...a wise, elegantly written book about a transformational moment for a family and their city."
May 3, 2023—"...I often feel as shaken and off-balance as my 34-year-old wannabe-writer self once did.... To get on the same page, I interviewed him."
May 1, 2023—Listed among selected writers on the West by Alta Journal.
May 2023—"Beautiful and touching, Outer Sunset tells a stirring father-daughter tale about facing impending loss with faith, hope, forgiveness, and healing..."—Foreword Indie Reviews
November 30, 2022—New York, NY—Among ten fiction writers to participate in inaugural cohort of debut authors.
Mark Ernest Pothier
Mark Ernest Pothier’s debut novel, Outer Sunset, was published by University of Iowa Press in May 2023. His stories have won a Chicago Tribune/Nelson Algren Award and been long-listed for the Pirates Alley/Faulkner – William Wisdom prize. He earned an MFA from SF State, a BA from St. John’s College in Annapolis, and has lived with his wife and kids in San Francisco since 1987.
CONTACT
For any media inquiries, please contact agent: Farley Chase
Chase Literary Agency | www.chaseliterary.com | farley@chaseliterary.com
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