Letters to Emma Bowlcut, Paperback/Bill Callahan

Sixty-two letters from a nameless protagonist comprise this epistolary novel. He writes them to Emma, a woman he sees at a party. Each entry captures the loose, disparate details of daily life, including desires, frustrations, joys, social observations, anecdotes, advice, and the self, as depicted through emotional weather updates. Emma s replies are not revealed, but the narrator s persona is as he philosophizes and courts the object of his affection. He is a fan of boxing, a scientist by trade, and a student of the vortex an entity he uses to describe his self-deterioration and the emptiness in his life. Together, the letters reveal the internal dialog of a conflicted protagonist who shadowboxes Emma, himself, and even the reader."