Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: All of the Night
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1958
WEBSITE:
CITY: Washington
STATE: DC
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
| LC control no.: | no2016013628 |
|---|---|
| LCCN Permalink: | https://lccn.loc.gov/no2016013628 |
| HEADING: | Kent, Michael, 1958- |
| 000 | 00818nz a2200169n 450 |
| 001 | 10070431 |
| 005 | 20160202073555.0 |
| 008 | 160201n| azannaabn |n aaa c |
| 010 | __ |a no2016013628 |
| 035 | __ |a (OCoLC)oca10378819 |
| 040 | __ |a ViFGM |b eng |e rda |c ViFGM |
| 046 | __ |f 1958 |2 edtf |
| 100 | 1_ |a Kent, Michael, |d 1958- |
| 370 | __ |a Boulogne-Billancourt (France) |2 naf |
| 375 | __ |a male |
| 377 | __ |a eng |a fre |
| 670 | __ |a Pop the plug, 2012: |b title page (Michael Kent) page 207 (born 1958, Boulogne-Bilancourt,France; writer, artist, musician; author of Les Maléfices du fardeau d’Atlas; has written five novels including The big jiggety; writes in English and French; has been translated into Spanish and Russian; a former journalist; studied poetry at the University of Montana; edited a literary magazine at Bowdoin College) |
PERSONAL
Born 1958, in Boulogne-Billancourt, France.
EDUCATION:Received degrees from Lycee Henri Moissan, 1976, University of Montana, 1977, and Bowdoin College, 1980.
ADDRESS
CAREER
French-English translator and interpreter, magazine editor, journalist, musician, artist, and author. Alliance Francaise de Washington, musician, interpreter, and teacher, 1983-2010; GlobaLink Translations Ltd., lexicographer, 1986-1988; Taylor-Royall Casting Agency, actor, 1988–; U.S. Department of State, contract conference interpreter, 1989–; CLS, interpreter, 1990-2009; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, contact interpreter, 1990–; Language Services Bureau, contract interpreter, 1994-2010; ASET International Services Corporation, contract conference interpreter, 1997–; MultiLingual Solutions, Inc., contract interpreter, 1998-2010; StoryQuarterly, submitter, 2001-2009; MOCA, artist, 2001-2013; Organization of American States, contractor, 2003-2014; Xlibris, writer, 2005–; Artomatic, artist, 2007–.
Alliance Francaise de Washington, guest lecturer, 1985-2011.
MEMBER:Sierra Club, volunteer.
WRITINGS
Author of Les Maléfices du fardeau d’Atlas, 1985. Contributor to periodicals, including Inostrania Literatura, Happy, The Writer’s Round Table, Kinesis, The Threshold, The Quill, Voie Express USA, and The Urban Age. Also contributor to The Poet’s Domain. Author’s works have been translated into Russian and Spanish.
SIDELIGHTS
Michael Kent is most well known for his contributions to the music and art industries, as well as his numerous published works. Much of his creative work has released on YouTube and Flickr under the alias, “Big Jiggety.” His published writing includes The Big Jiggety, a novel, as well as Les Maléfices du fardeau d’Atlas, a poetry collection. However, Kent’s shorter works may also be found in such publications as Inostrania Literatura and Happy. Much of Kent’s writing has undergone translation, predominantly into Russian and Spanish. However, Kent has also professionally translated the works of others from French to English.
Pop the Plug
Pop the Plug: The Sort of American Returns is one of Kent’s novels, and follows the life of a young man by the name of Albert Nostran. Pop the Plug is also the sequel to the novel, The Big Jiggety. Pop the Plug follows Nostran as he attempts to navigate his final year of university while also trying to figure out what will comes next for him in life. In the midst of wondering what to do next, he also begins to observe his roommate for the year and his own approach to life.
In his journey toward self-discovery, Albert must also contend with several other changes within his personal life, as well as a slew of unique individuals who serve to further color his perceptions of the world after graduation. His parents have just recently moved to Stone Harbor, a small town in Massachusetts, and are struggling to adjust. Albert’s French-born mother longs for free-flowing alcohol, like she was able to enjoy back home. Albert’s father, in the meantime, is trying to settle into retirement after a long career in journalism. Albert divides his time between visiting his parents and doing his best to secure work for when college ends. Along the way, Albert struggles with feelings of uncertainty over several other areas of his life, including his romantic potential. One Kirkus Reviews writer expressed that the book is “[a] fun, original novel about seeing culture through foreign eyes.”
All of the Night
All of the Night: Novel No. 3: An Albert Nostran Episode serves as the follow-up to Pop the Plug, and is the third in a series. It is also a period novel, taking place in the 1980s. The novel focuses again on main character Albert Nostran, a young man who has just earned his college degree and must now kick off his adult life. However, several obstacles stand in Albert’s way. He immediately finds he is the odd one out in his new neighborhood, which rests right within the DC area. Albert is able to land a job with Universal Wire Service, a journalism agency, yet what seems like a successful start to a new chapter of life proves to be much harder to navigate. Albert must deal with a host of new characters, including his supervisor, who seems to have an endless list of demands for him. Albert also acquires a roommate by the name of Davey, who can’t seem to hold a steady job and is quite the eccentric, as well as several uniquely alluring love interests.
At the same time, Albert must contend with further drama stemming from both within himself and from his family. His desire to get out into the world comes from the need to show that he can be successful and hardworking—two traits that Albert’s father demands from him. Albert’s personal vices (such as his decision to pursue the daughter of his supervisor) and his father’s declining health threaten to yank him back down to square one. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews called the book “a delightfully calamitous chronicle of city struggles, bad luck, and mismatched dating.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2017, review of All of the Night: Novel No. 3: An Albert Nostran Episode.
ONLINE
Kirkus, https://www.kirkusreviews.com/ (February 25, 2015), review of Pop Plug: The Sort of American Returns; (May 29, 2018), author profile.
Michael Kent was born in 1958, a little west of Paris, France. His father was an American journalist whose poetry received praise from Ezra Pound; and his mother, an Australian, was an accomplished chef who liked Beethoven.
A writer, artist, musician, Kent published Les Maléfices du fardeau d'Atlas, his first book of poetry in 1985. He has written five novels, including THE BIG JIGGETY (Xlibris, 2005). Also, a number of short stories. He has published verse in English and in French. Other writings (and, on occasion, art work) have found a niche in Happy, Kinesis, The Quill, The Urban Age, Voie Express USA, The Threshold, The Writer's Round Table and Moscow's renowned Inostrania Literatura (next to T.C. Boyle).
His works have been translated into Spanish and Russian. A one-time journalist, he studied poetry at the University of Montana (under Richard Hugo) and edited a literary magazine in Brunswick, Maine (at Bowdoin College, alma mater to Hawthorne and Longfellow).
He currently earns a living in Washington, DC as a French-English interpreter/translator and receives royalties from the textbook Voie Express USA/Por la via rapida.
His art work and photography can be seen on Flickr.com. where he posts as The Big Jiggety. His music videos can be seen on You Tube, where he performs as Big Jiggety.
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Michael Kent
Conference Interpreter, French-English
Washington D.C. Metro Area
U.S. Department of State
Bowdoin College Bowdoin College
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See connections (500+)
500+ connections
Versatile professional specializing in writing (reviews, critically acclaimed novels, short stories, poetry), conference interpreting (French-English), painting (figurative), photography, and music.
Media (1)
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In the office
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Michael’s Articles & Activity
577 followers
New MGK Website!
Michael Kent on LinkedIn
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When Italian interpreters and translators get together, they do it in style 😀. A great get together in Venice the other day.
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Experience
U.S. Department of State
Contract Conference Interpreter
Company Name U.S. Department of State
Dates Employed Sep 1989 – Present Employment Duration 28 yrs 9 mos
Simultaneous interpret from French into English and vice-versa. Have interpreted for several US Presidents (Carter, Clinton, Bush II) and other heads of state from the francophone world.
Media (1)
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In the booth
In the booth
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Xlibris
Writer
Company Name Xlibris
Dates Employed 2005 – Present Employment Duration 13 yrs
https://books.google.com/books?id=P2CfCQAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover
Write semi-autobiographical novels, short stories and poetry.
B. 1958, Boulogne, France) writer, artist, musician, published Les Maléfices du fardeau d'Atlas, his first book of poetry in 1985. He has written five novels, including THE BIG JIGGETY (Xlibris, 2005) and POP THE PLUG (Xlibris 2012). Also, his verse has been published in The Poet's Domain. His short stories and, on occasion, art work, have found a niche in Happy, Kumquat Meringue, Kinesis, The Quill, The Urban Age, Voie Express USA, The Threshold, The Writer's Round Table and Moscow's renowned Inostrania Literatura (next to T.C. Boyle). Writing in both English and French, his works have been translated into Spanish and Russian. A former journalist, he studied poetry at the University of Montana under Richard Hugo (see The Big Jiggety) and edited a literary magazine in Brunswick, Me. Aside from selling books and the occasional painting. he currently earns a living in Washington, DC as a French-English interpreter/translator.
Media (1)
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POP THE PLUG by Michael Kent | Kirkus
POP THE PLUG by Michael Kent | Kirkus
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Artomatic
Artist
Company Name Artomatic
Dates Employed 2007 – Present Employment Duration 11 yrs
Location Washington, DC, Arlington, Virginia
Exhibit works of art. Paint walls, hang pictures.
Media (1)
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The Fence Menders, Peru
The Fence Menders, Peru
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ASET International Services Corporation
Contract Conference Interpreter
Company Name ASET International Services Corporation
Dates Employed 1997 – Present Employment Duration 21 yrs
Location Washington D.C. Metro Area
Interpreting a wide array of subjects simultaneously in a booth from English into French and French into English.
Taylor-Royall Casting Agency
Actor
Company Name Taylor-Royall Casting Agency
Dates Employed 1988 – Present Employment Duration 30 yrs
Location Baltimore, Maryland Area
"Talent." Mostly an extra, I did pass an audition in which I played an office executive practicing tai chi, lending the exercise a humorous edge.
Media (1)
This position has 1 media
All the world's a stage
All the world's a stage
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U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Contact Interpreter
Company Name U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Dates Employed 1990 – Present Employment Duration 28 yrs
Location Washington D.C. Metro Area
Interpret from French into English and vice-versa.
Media (1)
This position has 1 media
MK in Ireland
MK in Ireland
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DC Superior Court
Interpreter
Company Name DC Superior Court
Dates Employed 1995 – 2015 Employment Duration 20 yrs
Interpret from French into English and vice-versa.
Organization of American States
Contractor
Company Name Organization of American States
Dates Employed 2003 – 2014 Employment Duration 11 yrs
Location Washington D.C. Metro Area
Interpret from English into French for high level delegates.
MOCA
Artist
Company Name MOCA
Dates Employed 2001 – 2013 Employment Duration 12 yrs
Painted pictures (see my work on Flickr.com under The Big Jiggety (the title of my first novel).
Media (1)
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Self-Portrait at Piano (16" x 20")
Self-Portrait at Piano (16" x 20")
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Alliance Francaise de Washington
Guest Lecturer
Company Name Alliance Francaise de Washington
Dates Employed 1985 – 2011 Employment Duration 26 yrs
Location Washington D.C. Metro Area
I originally taught evenings from 1985 to 1989 but my travels put the kibosh on that. I returned there to twice exhibit paintings and once present my first published novel: THE BIG JIGGETY.
Media (1)
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Noir
Noir
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Education
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College
Degree Name English - Art
Field Of Study English & Art
Dates attended or expected graduation 1977 – 1980
Activities and Societies: Editor The Quill, literary magazine.Also wrote, drew and took photos.
Majored in English and in Art. Enjoyed hiking.Composed a few pieces on the piano.
The University of Montana
The University of Montana
Field Of Study General
Dates attended or expected graduation 1976 – 1977
Did not specialize, see The Big Jiggety (XLibris)
Lycee Henri Moissan
Lycee Henri Moissan
Degree Name French Baccaluareat
Field Of Study General Studies
Dates attended or expected graduation 1972 – 1976
Volunteer Experience
Washington, DC
See Sierra Club
Company Name Washington, DC
WETA-FM
Phone answerer
Company Name WETA-FM
Skills & Endorsements
Translation
See 59 endorsements for Translation 59
Endorsed by Otto Zellmann CHI™, CMI-Spanish and 20 others who are highly skilled at this
Endorsed by 11 of Michael’s colleagues at U.S. Department of State
French
See 49 endorsements for French 49
Endorsed by Julie Porter and 9 others who are highly skilled at this
Endorsed by 6 of Michael’s colleagues at U.S. Department of State
Interpreting
See 38 endorsements for Interpreting 38
Endorsed by Pauline Wimmer and 15 others who are highly skilled at this
Endorsed by 6 of Michael’s colleagues at U.S. Department of State
Industry Knowledge
Foreign Languages
See 38 endorsements for Foreign Languages 38
Linguistics
See 34 endorsements for Linguistics 34
Proofreading
See 27 endorsements for Proofreading 27
Editing
See 24 endorsements for Editing 24
Technical Translation
See 16 endorsements for Technical Translation 16
Literature
See 15 endorsements for Literature 15
Multilingual
See 12 endorsements for Multilingual 12
Legal Translation
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International Relations
See 10 endorsements for International Relations 10
Localization
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Photography
See 6 endorsements for Photography 6
Language Services
See 5 endorsements for Language Services 5
Writing
See 5 endorsements for Writing 5
Art
See 3 endorsements for Art 3
Research
See 3 endorsements for Research 3
Public Relations
See 2 endorsements for Public Relations 2
Politics
See 1 endorsement for Politics 1
Music
Fine Art Photography
Travel Photography
Interpersonal Skills
Intercultural Communication
See 25 endorsements for Intercultural Communication 25
Language Teaching
See 11 endorsements for Language Teaching 11
Cultural Awareness
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Diplomacy
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Languages
English
See 19 endorsements for English 19
Spanish
See 8 endorsements for Spanish 8
Other Skills
Simultaneous Interpretation
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Consecutive Interpretation
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Conference Interpreting
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Recommendations
Received (0)
Given (3)
Gilles Godel
Gilles Godel
Native French Interpreter and Translator
July 24, 2014, Gilles worked with Michael in the same group
Not only is Gilles Godel a consummate professional, he happens to also be a very human person with a spotless command of the French and English languages. I was also impressed by Gilles's encyclopedic knowledge which inevitably enhances his ability as an interpreter. Add to this mix a good sense of humor and a generous spirit, and the tableau is quite complete.
Maria R Gamez
Maria R Gamez
Certified Court Interpreter, Conference Interpreter
April 30, 2013, Michael worked with Maria R in different groups
Maria is a hard-working, conscienscious colleague with a can-do attitude. She remains amiable under stress and would be an asset to any organization.
Nadia Korolev
Nadia Korolev
Independent Translation and Localization Professional
December 12, 2012, Nadia worked with Michael in the same group
Nadia is an amicable, professional, hard-working, detail-oriented colleague whom I wholeheartedly recommend.
Michael Kent
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Accomplishments
Michael has 3 languages 3
Languages
English French Spanish
Michael has 1 organization 1
Organization
Washington Project for the Arts
Michael has 1 project 1
Project
All of the Night
Michael has 1 publication 1
Publication
The Big Jiggety (Xlibris)
Interests
ASET International Services Corporation
ASET International Services Corporation
249 followers
Xlibris
Xlibris
2,727 followers
Artomatic
Artomatic
102 followers
U.S. Department of State
U.S. Department of State
221,680 followers
Bowdoin College
Bowdoin College
20,559 followers
IVLP and ATA Contractors
IVLP and ATA Contractors
21 members
Michael Kent
Born in 1958, west of Paris, France, writer, visual artist, musician, published Les Maléfices du fardeau d'Atlas, his first book of poetry in 1985. He has written six novels, including THE BIG JIGGETY (Xlibris, 2005), POP THE PLUG (Xlibris 2012) and ALL OF THE NIGHT (Xlibris, 2015), two of which he has also illustrated. Also, his verse has been published in The Poet's Domain and other venues. His short stories and, on occasion, art work, have found a niche in Happy, Kinesis, The Quill, The Urban Age, Voie Express USA, The Threshold, The Writer's Round Table and Moscow's renowned Inostrania Literatura (next to world-famous T.C. Boyle). Writing in both English and French, his works have been translated into Spanish and Russian. Aside from selling books and the occasional painting (see Flickr/TheBigJiggety), he currently earns a living in Washington, DC as a conference French-English interpreter/translator and likes to sing and play old rock & roll with a few friends (see YouTube: BigJiggety).
Michael Kent welcomes queries regarding:
Agent Representation
Events & Signings
Film Rights
Foreign Publication
Media Coverage
Networking
U.S. Publication
"The text features a surfeit of introspective musings that add humor and creative energy to Kent’s oddly addictive narrative... A fun, original novel about seeing culture through foreign eyes."
– Kirkus Reviews
AWARDS, PRESS & INTERESTS
Favorite author Charles Bukowski
Favorite book Post Office
Unexpected skill or talent Can whistle ultra loud and melodically. Always on the alert to cut suckers from trees, often freeing them once the pesky wires gnaw into the trunk .
Passion in life the environment
BOOKS REVIEWED BY KIRKUS:
ALL OF THE NIGHT by Michael Kent
Pub Date: May 16, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-5035-6167-0
Page count: 220pp
ALL OF THE NIGHT
After a series of unfortunate events, a recent college graduate questions his faith in life and love.
The protagonist of prolific French-born writer, artist, and poet Kent’s (Pop the Plug, 2012, etc.) third novel arrives in Washington, D.C., from Stone Harbor, Massachusetts. Fresh from college and his claustrophobic family, he is eager to prove his ambition and worth to his critical father and himself. It’s the early 1980s, and Albert Nostran, an aspiring journalist raised in France, struggles to find his footing amid the neighborhoods within his new chosen city. Young and restless, a variety of women flit into and out of his romantic orbit: a museum patron, a Gremlin owner, a sweet magazine salesperson. There’s also his oddball, “only partially employed” new roommate, Davey Gronket, and pushy boss, who both add dramatic texture to a story that primarily runs on characterization. Nostran learns the journalistic ropes through a grueling, graveyard-shift internship at Universal Wire Service, where eccentric co-workers and news and personal events keep things lively, among them the precarious presidential election of Ronald Reagan, the murder of John Lennon, and the protagonist’s father’s stroke, which particularly lends the narrative a good dose of poignancy. But when Nostran becomes smitten with the boss’s daughter Claire, their ill-advised relationship expectedly fizzles, and the hero is tossed back onto the unemployment line. Kent’s era awareness of snail mail and landlines is spot-on, and Nostran is an instantly likable young man whose attempts at finding a girlfriend include adorable poetry and postcards dropped in mailboxes. The internal monologues lamenting his female frustrations are both painful and hilarious: “It was either too ripe or not ripe enough because, as my lips were about to indulge in the most natural of all acts, she turned her head away, and all I could feel was a cheekbone.” The featherweight plot isn’t the main attraction in Kent’s novel, however; it is his resilient leading man who, even amid a string of ill-fated episodes, remains a model of perseverance and positive thinking that readers should find as charming as Nostran’s search for true love.
A delightfully calamitous chronicle of city struggles, bad luck, and mismatched dating.
POP THE PLUG by Michael Kent
BIOGRAPHY & MEMOIR
Pub Date: Oct. 9, 2012
ISBN: 978-1479725083
Page count: 208pp
Download Sample Chapter
POP THE PLUG: The Sort of American Returns
The quirky adventures of a Frenchman in America.
Poet, novelist and French-English translator Kent has a unique character in Albert Nostran. He was introduced in The Big Jiggety (2005), a coming-of-age yarn that followed the ill-prepared French-born American’s struggle through collegiate life in Montana and Maine in the 1970s. Here, Kent vibrantly continues Nostran’s chronicles as a pensive college senior double-majoring in English and art and pondering what’s sure to be “a field of question marks” upon graduation. He continues to live in the freshman Hollister Hall dormitory suite shared with plucky roommate Willy Lee. Only dabbling in photography, Nostran is anxious about postgraduation job prospects, and with little girlfriend experience beyond Sabine back in his native France, his mind becomes unnecessarily preoccupied with Willy’s sexuality. A parade of peripheral characters marches through Kent’s dialogue-driven narrative, most tapping into the uncertainty of postcollege life. Some, such as randy professor DeBaal, are eager to explore Nostran’s more carnal desires. Nostran’s breaks are spent hitchhiking to Stone Harbor, Massachusetts, where his paranoid, brutish American father once enjoyed a livelihood as a journalist for Thyme Magazine. His mother, having sold the family home in France to relocate to Stone Harbor, is unimpressed with the seaside town’s alcohol restrictions, but once settled in, the Nostran family accepts America as their new home while Albert continues his job-seeking exploits amid the clash of cultures. The text features a surfeit of introspective musings that add humor and creative energy to Kent’s oddly addictive narrative. Also helping is a hodgepodge of well-placed references to classic American literature and abstract art history. Setting the novel in motion early is a comical scene in which the reluctant protagonist is lightheartedly coerced into allowing Willy to become his roommate because “only weird guys are worth hanging out with.” This cast of eccentrics is worth spending time with as well.
A fun, original novel about seeing culture through foreign eyes.
ADDITIONAL WORKS AVAILABLE:
ALL OF THE NIGHT
Fictionalized autobiography
While landing a job at an international press agency in Washington has enabled the young Albert Nostran to flee his manic father and the existential boredom of the northeastern provinces, stability, and the ideal woman are goals that still elude him. The graveyard shift and a loathsome roommate do little to lift his morale. Not sufficiently trained, not overwhelmingly motivated, his work does not shine. A ray of hope trickles in the presence of a young woman who happens to be none other than the boss's daughter. The romance falters and he is fired. A series of less than inspiring jobs ensue until he encounters the son of a friend of his father's who discusses free-lancing. A more willing lass provides him with an opportunity to write about a local scultpure exhibit. The novel concludes with this humble step in the right direction and a third romance which appears to offer more hopes for stability. In ALL OF THE NIGHT, we empathize with a young man left to his own devices, attempting to assert himself in the world of full-blown adults he is yet to feel totally comfortable with Like its three predecessors, All of the Night is riddled with a compelling blend of humor and pathos, in the presence of Nostran's pointed, sometimes profound never boring commentary and a panoply of colorful characters giving the protagonist reason to push ahead although the deck is not entirely stacked in his favor.
ISBN: 2015905690
View on Amazon
THE BIG JIGGETY
Fictionalized autobiography
THE BIG JIGGETY, a picaresque, romantic, humorous, philosophical, sociological, (mostly autobiographical) novel, relates the travels and travails of Albert Nostran. An 18-year old American born and raised in the country outside 25 miles east of Paris, his quest is to find America, a woman, and himself. Lugging his guitar, Don Pedro, fleeing his cantankerous father, well-meaning mother and a brother he wants to turn into a fellow musician, he braves disease, fatigue, cold and angst to land in Big Sky University in Missoula, Montana, to sink his teeth into the frozen American west. Many aspects of US/Montana life intrigue the protagonist, yet Nostran retains a European sense of history and critical mind; arguably a Tocqueville of the late 1970s, he never misses an opportunity to comment on the local societal oddities and contradictions. "Perhaps you were more French than you thought," Damian his childhood friend tells the homesick hero in chapter one. Before they launch off in an exploration of a bleak, wintery, nocturnal Paris, during which Nostran loses his innocence in the arms of a prostitute. After whom our hero believes he has contracted something nasty, yet another little inconvenience he must face when flying back to Chicago via London. And matters do not improve in the endless yet at times magical bus ride between Salt-Lake-City and Butte, and he comes close to freezing trying to hitch-hike along the wide open spaces between Butte and Missoula. A few pills later, the sex quest resumes. Undaunted, Nostran in his diaspora flirts with one woman and then another with precious little of the supposed Gallic related savoir faire. Life at the university does harbor the excitement of weekends and dormitory life, with its freshman friendships and naïveté as well the tedium and occasional enlightenment of classes. And extra curricular activities, such as teaching dorm-mates how to strum a guitar. Against this background vivid characters are etched: Threats, the homophobic narcissistic football player; Rotch, another jock, who after having learned guitar from Albert begins to ridicule his former mentor. Up in Polson, Mt., we encounter Montcarlson and his wife, the curious couple who originally recommended the university. In Dubois, Wyoming, we meet Lancelot Wolf, owner of the Salamander Ranch, and Jim, the bisexual bartender, who reveals unexpected secrets about women the eager Nostran very quickly applies to Tweets, the stocky femme fatale in the blue car he more than befriends on yet another glacial return to Missoula. Bags repacked, the last U.S. trek takes him and two others back east to Chicago and New York--one American city whose intensity captivates him. If the USA experience at times mystified the adolescent, returning to France in the summer proves anticlimactic. At first. What the old country appears to lack in razzle-dazzle, it gradually makes up in terms of simplicity and deep-rooted friendships. Besides, after a stint with translations Nostran cannot sit still for long. Driving from his boyhood home in Seine-et-Marne (a little east of Paris), first up to Amsterdam with three rambunctious of old high school mates, then down to the Spanish border, via the Loire valley, with the equally lust-ridden Lecoq-Hasien, Nostran once again rediscovers the virtues of Europe and home. At the very last minute when all sexual hope has been abandoned, a young lady on the Saint-Jean-de-Luz boardwalk asks him for a light.
ISBN: 2005908413
View on Amazon
ONLINE:
Facebook: MichaelKentFacebook
GoodReads: https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/9276160-michael
Website: MichaelKentWriterArtist
Website: Michael Kent on Flickr
Kent presents ALL OF THE NIGHT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBkKYtpA6BU
Kent, Michael: ALL OF THE NIGHT
Kirkus Reviews.
(Sept. 1, 2017): From Book Review Index Plus. COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Kent, Michael ALL OF THE NIGHT Xlibris (Indie Fiction) $29.99 5, 16 ISBN: 978-1-5035-6167-0
After a series of unfortunate events, a recent college graduate questions his faith in life and love. The protagonist of prolific French-born writer, artist, and poet Kent's (Pop the Plug, 2012, etc.) third novel arrives in Washington, D.C., from Stone Harbor, Massachusetts. Fresh from college and his claustrophobic family, he is eager to prove his ambition and worth to his critical father and himself. It's the early 1980s, and Albert Nostran, an aspiring journalist raised in France, struggles to find his footing amid the neighborhoods within his new chosen city. Young and restless, a variety of women flit into and out of his romantic orbit: a museum patron, a Gremlin owner, a sweet magazine salesperson. There's also his oddball, "only partially employed" new roommate, Davey Gronket, and pushy boss, who both add dramatic texture to a story that primarily runs on characterization. Nostran learns the journalistic ropes through a grueling, graveyard-shift internship at Universal Wire Service, where eccentric co-workers and news and personal events keep things lively, among them the precarious presidential election of Ronald Reagan, the murder of John Lennon, and the protagonist's father's stroke, which particularly lends the narrative a good dose of poignancy. But when Nostran becomes smitten with the boss's daughter Claire, their ill-advised relationship expectedly fizzles, and the hero is tossed back onto the unemployment line. Kent's era awareness of snail mail and landlines is spot-on, and Nostran is an instantly likable young man whose attempts at finding a girlfriend include adorable poetry and postcards dropped in mailboxes. The internal monologues lamenting his female frustrations are both painful and hilarious: "It was either too ripe or not ripe enough because, as my lips were about to indulge in the most natural of all acts, she turned her head away, and all I could feel was a cheekbone." The featherweight plot isn't the main attraction in Kent's novel, however; it is his resilient leading man who, even amid a string of ill-fated episodes, remains a model of perseverance and positive thinking that readers should find as charming as Nostran's search for true love. A delightfully calamitous chronicle of city struggles, bad luck, and mismatched dating.
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Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Kent, Michael: ALL OF THE NIGHT." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Sept. 2017. Book Review Index Plus,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A502192151/GPS?u=schlager&sid=GPS& xid=ee7f9933. Accessed 14 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A502192151
2 of 2 5/14/18, 10:02 PM
POP THE PLUG by Michael Kent
POP THE PLUG
The Sort of American Returns
by Michael Kent
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KIRKUS REVIEW
The quirky adventures of a Frenchman in America.
Poet, novelist and French-English translator Kent has a unique character in Albert Nostran. He was introduced in The Big Jiggety (2005), a coming-of-age yarn that followed the ill-prepared French-born American’s struggle through collegiate life in Montana and Maine in the 1970s. Here, Kent vibrantly continues Nostran’s chronicles as a pensive college senior double-majoring in English and art and pondering what’s sure to be “a field of question marks” upon graduation. He continues to live in the freshman Hollister Hall dormitory suite shared with plucky roommate Willy Lee. Only dabbling in photography, Nostran is anxious about postgraduation job prospects, and with little girlfriend experience beyond Sabine back in his native France, his mind becomes unnecessarily preoccupied with Willy’s sexuality. A parade of peripheral characters marches through Kent’s dialogue-driven narrative, most tapping into the uncertainty of postcollege life. Some, such as randy professor DeBaal, are eager to explore Nostran’s more carnal desires. Nostran’s breaks are spent hitchhiking to Stone Harbor, Massachusetts, where his paranoid, brutish American father once enjoyed a livelihood as a journalist for Thyme Magazine. His mother, having sold the family home in France to relocate to Stone Harbor, is unimpressed with the seaside town’s alcohol restrictions, but once settled in, the Nostran family accepts America as their new home while Albert continues his job-seeking exploits amid the clash of cultures. The text features a surfeit of introspective musings that add humor and creative energy to Kent’s oddly addictive narrative. Also helping is a hodgepodge of well-placed references to classic American literature and abstract art history. Setting the novel in motion early is a comical scene in which the reluctant protagonist is lightheartedly coerced into allowing Willy to become his roommate because “only weird guys are worth hanging out with.” This cast of eccentrics is worth spending time with as well.
A fun, original novel about seeing culture through foreign eyes.
Pub Date: Oct. 9th, 2012
ISBN: 978-1479725083
Page count: 208pp
Publisher: Xlibris
Program: Kirkus Indie
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25th, 2015