Losing Graceland Cover Art
  • “Nathan presents the reader with several fantastic characters in this rollicking, adventurous tale. Readers will pore through this fast-paced, adrenaline-filled novel and eat up the fantastic dialogue that brings Elvis back to life in a new, deliciously lascivious way.”
    — Julie Hunt, Booklist
  • “…engaging…a blend of the slapstick and the slapdash, the ironic and the painfully sincere…a wild road trip, a yarn spiced with plenty of humor and romance….”
    — Michael Lindgren, The Washington Post
  • “A novel of lost souls and a lost America . . . the idea of Elvis Presley hiding in plain sight as an Elvis impersonator is a stroke of genius. Losing Graceland is pure entertainment.”
    — Tottenville Review
  • “Less about the hip-swiveling sex icon and more about friendship, Losing Graceland isn’t just a tall tale of another Elvis impersonator, but about life’s journey through bumps in the road….The road to Memphis is an interesting, if not endearing one, for the pair, who — gold rings and jumpsuit aside — find themselves to be surprisingly similar.”
    — Kelci Shipley, Marie Claire
  • "…Ben has undreamed-of experiences on this strange journey….with quirky characters and homespun wisdom, this will appeal to fans of literary coming-of-age-stories.”
    — Cheryl Conway, Library Journal
  • “In all the commercial and cultural carryings-on that are likely to happen in this, Elvis’ 76th birthday season, one of the richest may be Micah Nathan’s second novel Losing Graceland….a highly entertaining and rambunctiously readable second novel.”
    — Jeff Simon, The Buffalo News



  • “The duo’s adventures—brawling with the biker gang Hell’s Foster Children, competing in Elvis impersonator contests, visiting hillbilly oracles—are entertaining…”
    — Publishers Weekly
  • “Micah Nathan’s first novel, Gods of Aberdeen, was a critically acclaimed story of adolescent angst. His follow-up, Losing Graceland, mines similar thematic territory as it follows another central male character, Ben Fish, on a wild and weird road trip….a fun, fast read for Presley devotees and coming-of-age fiction fans alike.”
    — Lizza Connor Bowen, Book Page
  • “Thus begins the weirdest of buddy adventures, with feckless Ben playing first mate to the is-he-or-isn’t-he Elvis, a superannuated hillbilly with the unearthly self-possession of a Zen master. En route to points south, the adventurers tangle with a one-eyed pimp, a trio of roadhouse sirens, a backwoods soothsayer, and other low-rent variations on a Homeric theme…[with] antic originality [and] the near-magic realism of Elvis as a geriatric Ulysses….”
    — Amanda Heller, The Boston Globe




  • “…a rambunctious coming-of-age tale…”
    — Colette Bancroft, St. Petersburg Times


  • “Micah Nathan’s low- and high-spirited, rambunctious road novel is an exploration of loss, faith, and human frailty—and as befits a story involving a character who just might be Elvis Presley, it’s also sad, unpredictable, and rather tragically funny.”
    — Brian Groh, author of Summer People
  • “Micah Nathan is a hell of a writer. Losing Graceland is a postmodern picaresque, overflowing with sly wit, pop culture icons, contemporary fretfulness, authentically touching revelations, and, most important, plain old good writing. Nathan writes with a grace and eloquence that is all too rare. He understands the awesome power of storytelling and myth making, and has written a book as much about that power as it is an example of it. A textured and deeply gratifying literary journey.”
    — Alden Bell, author of The Reapers Are the Angels
  • “Losing Graceland is an alluring parable for a generation forced to find adulthood in the wreckage their elders have left behind in Great Recession America…Micah Nathan—his perspective pleasantly off-kilter, his voice spare, wry, and occasionally down-right evocative—has created a confident narrative for Ben Fish’s road trip of introspection and self discovery.”
    — Stephen White, author of the NYT bestselling Alan Gregory series

Viewer Request

by micah on January 24, 2012

Someone asked, so here it is. My first–and last–entry in the “Al Qaeda is now freelancing for Zagat Restaurant Guide” failed internet meme. I thought it would catch on. It did not.

Renowned restaurant guide Zagat just announced Al Qaeda will be a part-time contributor. From their review of Goldblatt’s Deli in Upper West: Infidels will love “the hot pastrami on rye with just a touch of mustardy kick” though be careful of “Jewish conspiracies to poison pickles using the blood of demonic pigs” and recommends you “take up the sword in the beloved name of Allah, driving all non-believers to the fiery wastes of their doom.” Make sure to try their “perfectly-balanced Reuben” using “just the right amount of buttery, nutty Swiss” and then “find the nearest Jewess and cut off her head” before completing your meal with “some of New York’s best cheesecake.”

The semester started and I am very, very happy to be back. You know what comes out next month? You’re guessing Micah Nathan’s story in the February issue of Glimmer Train? You are correct. GT will contain my short thriller “Quarry” (among other excellent stories by various excellent writers).

I read about bees being used as security guards and it doesn’t feel right. Leave them alone. They’ve done enough for us. Also, hornets would be so much more effective. Or rats. With scorpions mounted on their backs.

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And So I Ask Why

by micah on January 8, 2012

We were in Buffalo for two whole weeks, a nostalgia-laden trip sprinkled with just enough of the new: a photo shoot with the awesome Katie Ambrose, dinner at some excellent restaurants, and various wintry evenings around the fire. I discovered Settlers of Catan. I finished a book by Camus. I didn’t write a lick.

I also rummaged. Through my old boxes and dresser drawers, wherein I found some old love letters, high school essays, and the occasional hate note.

Hate note?

Indeed. I went through a brief hate note phase back in junior high–blame it on hormones and self-exploration of one’s outrage–and thankfully I still have copies of those notes. Including this one:

A transcript of the outrage, for the curious:

Sean,

When you and me [sic] first met, I thought we would stay friends for a long time, but I was wrong. You lie! Craig was the one who said Kevin was “Grinch who stole Christmas,” and I agreed. Craig made it up! I’m so mad at you, not at Kevin. I think I should fight you! Not Kevin. You can’t blame any of this on Kevin or me, it’s you! You seem to use “double-crossing” a lot. That’s stupid, its [sic] called betrayal. You switch sides when your’e [sic] mad at someone. First your [sic] on my side, then your [sic] on Kevin’s.

I’m sick of it!

You were never a friend! You used me!

Never call me, never talk to me, I don’t even want to see you!

You pushed our friendship too far, I have a very long wick on my temper, but it has ran out!!!! [sic]

You don’t deserve to see my signed name!

And there we have it.

Katie Ambrose made me laugh. She kept shooting while I laughed. I was embarrassed.

(Said photos are for a Buffalo Magazine profile, due in their February issue.)

A few days ago I laid on my back, on the local high school football field, and stared at the clouds. It was 60 degrees and sunny. A winter without snow seems aborted–my shed isn’t cozy, my writing is a slog, and I long for an excuse to wear long scarves. Yes, yes, the lamentations of the relatively-spoiled. I know. Let me lament anyway.

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The Stories of John Cheever

January 7, 2012

Non-fiction > Recommendation > Post Road Magazine The Stories of John Cheever It was almost something—anything—by Borges and then a brief flirtation with Capote, but I returned to my original love, my well-trod, easy love: The Stories of John Cheever. I say “easy” because so many writers have cited Cheever’s work as canonical, but I’m [...]

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A Word or Three.

December 15, 2011

Some excellent news: Phil Noto will be contributing his considerable talent to JTB, and while my tone may seem sedate, it’s only because I usually avoid exclamation points. I am, in a word, thrilled. I’ve been a long-time fan of Phil’s work–from his covers to his comics–and I can’t wait to see what he cooks [...]

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Yahoo! (the exclamation & the site)

December 3, 2011

Shadowgun made Yahoo!’s (now that’s some odd grammatical structure) “best-looking iPhone games.” Yeah, yeah, tell me something I don’t know. But still…I’m proud of this little guy. Here’s the Yahoo! slideshow. A Memory This morning, while shaving (my face) I remembered my second-favorite scheme from college. I used to strategize the sexiest “entrance” for girls [...]

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Hellboy, you turkey.

November 26, 2011

How was your Thanksgiving? We did it proper-like here in Boston–dinner at a friend’s house, complete with a 25 lbs. home-brined turkey and the usual culinary excellence I’ve come to expect from Dave and Kara. Which brings me to Hellboy; not those lousy movies, but Mignola’s graphic novels. (The movies are lousy, with none of [...]

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One easy piece.

November 23, 2011

Last week I pitched my retrospective on Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut” to a well-known film journal. The first paragraph: Which brings me to Kubrick’s “Eyes Wide Shut,” a film I stubbornly defended for years, never having enjoyed it all that much yet insisting its meandering pace was atmospheric brilliance, it’s performances purposefully off-rhythm, and it’s [...]

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Fight, fight!

November 12, 2011

Two quickies: 1. My story “One Act” (published in The Gettysburg Review last month) is available on their site for a limited time. 2. SHADOWGUN is about to crack the top 10 in U.S. sales. It launched in Apple, and now you can get it for the Droid. Five bucks, folks. Who doesn’t want to [...]

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Okay, okay.

November 6, 2011

When are you going to update your long bio? How am I supposed to kill time at work if you never change the damn thing? – Aaron P.S.: Sy Snootles. Who doesn’t know that? Funny you should ask, because last week I just changed the damn thing and didn’t upload it. So now it’s uploaded. [...]

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Han vs. Vader

November 5, 2011

NY was terrific–there was talk of JTB making a 2012 Comic-Con appearance, I ate whole wheat doughnuts at Chock Full O’ Nuts, and Jud told me about the pig-faced freaks/Nazi doctor/Roswell alien landing theory (not his theory, btw). Then my little cousin made the trek from Tribeca to Midtown, we ordered in, and fell asleep [...]

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