Writing

The Undiscovered Island ~ Revised Edition

A novel by Darrell Kastin

Julia Castro travels to her family's ancestral home in the Azores, after her father’s disappearance, to find the islands abuzz with tales of ghost ships, seductive sirens, and a new island emerging from the sea. Searching for her father, Julia succumbs to the bewitching allure of the Azores, and to Nicolau, a fellow musician. She discovers a place where dreams lie just beyond the horizon, shrouded in mist. History, legend, poetry and myth, seamlessly interwoven, explore the line between fate and self-determination, past and present, reality and illusion—a lyrical evocation of a locale and a people.

The revised novel features new cover art, a map of the Azores, a family tree, and an introduction by Katherine Vaz.

The revised edition is slated for publication on April 28th, 2023.

Buy the Book

• UMass Press
• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon.com
• Order from your favorite bookstore

Book Information

THE UNDISCOVERED ISLAND
Darrell Kastin
Publisher: Portuguese in the Americas Series
PubDate: 5/1/2009
ISBN: 9781933227238
Binding: PAPERBACK
Price: $25.00
Pages: 411

Excerpt: Read an excerpt from the book.

Flyer: Download a flyer about the novel (PDF).

Thoughts: View Darrell's article on writing about the Azores.

Reviews: Read reviews about The Undiscovered Island.

Shadowboxing With Bukowski

A novel by Darrell Kastin

Shadowboxing with Bukowski blurs the line between memoir and fiction. It's the comic saga of a young bookseller who struggles to keep his bookstore afloat in the harbor town of San Pedro, CA, where the infamous Charles Bukowski resides. Pushed to the edge by events beyond his control: his flailing marriage, the curmudgeonly ghost of the former owner, and the community that sees him as an outsider, the intrepid book lover fights the noble battle against mediocrity and apathy while in a moment of desperation his wife enlists Bukowski's aid.

Praise

Darrell Kastin's short, comic novel, Shadowboxing With Bukowski, is a finely written tale of a young man's misadventures in the book-selling trade and literary sub-culture of contemporary Los Angeles. The hero has a worthwhile, though romantic and ill-conceived dream--he is, after all, a lover of books and simply wants to share his love by selling good ones or, if necessary, giving them away. The narrative is self-deprecating and picaresque. Few books make me laugh out loud, but this one did.

~ Tom Jenks, editor Narrative Magazine, and novelist

I read it, and I LIKED it! Shadowboxing With Bukowski captured a moment in time that I remember very well. I think it adds another piece to the Buk legend.

~ John Martin, publisher, Black Sparrow Press.

Shadowboxing With Bukowski not only captures Bukowski's elusive (some say nonexistent) classic high grace, but offers a humorous, uncanny depiction of desperately running a bookstore while it was running itself out of success.  Fun stuff fluffing up the underground heart.

~ Douglas Blazek, poet,Ventriloquy of Light & Gutting Cats in Search of Fiddles, editor of The Bukowski Sampler, publisher/editor of Open Skull Press, Olé.

The Conjurer & Other Azorean Tales

by Darrell Kastin

Published December 2012: Etched from the fertile volcanic soil and the sea and mists surrounding the Azorean islands, the characters who inhabit these stories merge realism with magic. Like the nine Muses, each island has its own special attributes. Whether searching for love, power or meaning, these characters are subject to the whims of Fate and Fortune. Here the commonplace present confronts forces both natural and supernatural. Taking place in the Azorean microcosm, they come to represent a far larger and wider sphere, depicting the foibles and idiosyncrasies of humanity the world over.

Buy the Book

• Barnes & Noble
• Amazon.com
• UPNE - Tagus Press (New England University Press)
• Order from your favorite bookstore

Book Information

The Conjurer & Other Azorean Tales
Darrell Kastin
Publisher: Tagus Press at UMass Dartmouth. Tagus Press books are produced and distributed by UPNE, University Press of New England. Portuguese in the Americas Series.
2012 • 176 pp. 6 x 9"
Fiction & Literature / Short Stories
$19.95 Paperback, 978-1-933227-41-2
$12.99 Ebook, 978-1-933227-42-9

Reviews

Read reviews about The Conjurer & Other Azorean Tales.

Constança's War with the Elements

A short story by Darrell Kastin

Read CONSTANÇA'S WAR WITH THE ELEMENTS

The Woman Who Stole The Moon

A short story by Darrell Kastin

First appeared in The Windsor Review

Read The Woman Who Stole The Moon (PDF)

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