Topic: Mary Alice’s Ladder

Barry Kitterman’s “The Baker’s Boy” arrives on bookstore shelves in May

By Debbie Boen | February 3, 2008 |

With the publication of his novel The Baker’s Boy coming in May, APSU Professor Barry Kitterman (at left) has brought a ten-year effort to a satisfying conclusion. Kitterman has worked as an editor for many years, and has watched as a number of his friends enjoy publication of their work.

“This is my first book. This is better,” he says with understandable satisfaction. He says that words like “dream book” and “inspiration” don’t work for him. “I just work hard at my writing.”

Set in Central America and in Middle Tennessee, The Baker’s Boy gives us two intertwined stories: In the first, Tanner Johnson, nearing midlife, has left his pregnant wife and taken a job as a baker, working nights, trying to avoid a shadowy presence that haunts him from the past. In the second, Tanner relives his painful experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer in Belize, where he taught at a boys’ reform school nearly a quarter century ago. Haunted by the past, he struggles to find the courage to accept his role as a husband and prospective father.

Years ago, Kitterman worked as a Peace Corps volunteer and teacher in Belize in Central America. He has also taught in China and Taiwan. «Read the rest of this article»

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