Special Thanks to James Brown

Perigee would like to extend a special thanks to our 2009 Fiction Contest guest judge James Brown, who was not only a pleasure to work with, but also brought a marvelous insight to our contest and the deliberation process, and a sensitivity to the craft of story telling which speaks to his talents as a writer.

Our Fiction Editor Duff Brenna recently wrote this about James Brown's powerful memoir, Instruction on the Use of Heroin:

James Brown's provocative, beautifully written and gut wrenching memoir illuminates a life rich in those elemental passions that govern our lives—anger, fear, depression, death, and love. Sometimes tender, sometimes manic, but always wise and insightful, Instruction on the Use of Heroin never falters in the muscularity of the writing, all of it filled with riveting details that kept this reader turning the pages as fast as he could read them. Here is a remarkable life, one that is both devastating and inspiring. Any ordinary man experiencing what Brown went through would doubtless have died long ago, but Brown not only survived, he triumphed and in ways no one would have predicted, least of all, perhaps, Brown himself. From a junky/alcoholic to award-winning writer and university professor, Brown has proven once again that there are no oracles when it comes to foretelling the inevitable course of any man's journey. Mesmerizing from beginning to end. Unforgettable.

We hope Perigee's readers will take a moment to visit James Brown's web site and add his book to their summer reading list.