Allison Burnett is a novelist, film director, and screenwriter living in Los Angeles. He grew up in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, and Evanston, Illinois, where he graduated from Northwestern University. Later, he was a fellow in playwriting at The Juilliard School.
the escape of malcolm poe – a novel
the escape of malcolm poe is a hilarious ascent into the deluded imagination of a middle-aged man who believes it is never too late to start over. For the past ten years, Malcolm Poe has dreamt of escape. His plan is simple: The day his youngest child starts college, Malcolm will leave his devoted wife to resume the creative life he abandoned for marriage. As the hour of his departure nears, Malcolm buys a blank notebook to chronicle the riot of his memories, passions, regrets, and aspirations.
praise for the escape of malcolm poe
“Where the domestic meets the comic grotesque. John Cheever as told by Nathanael West."
—Dan Fante, author of Point Doom and Chump Change
Underneath Allison Burnett's characteristic dark hilarity beats a truthful and tender heart. A sensational read!
—Jillian Lauren, author Some Girls: My Life in a Harem
"A virtuoso rendering of what it means to be fifty years old. With the grace of Nabokov and the intelligence of Saul Bellow, Burnett has a written a novel that youngsters should read to see what's in store, the middle-aged to have their feelings and experiences validated, and the elderly to remember. A remarkable achievement by a remarkable author."
—Eric Miles Williamson, author of East Bay Grease and Welcome to Oakland
"Salinger for big boys."
—Gigi Levangie, author of Starter Wife and Seven Deadlies
"At turns acerbic and buoyant, vicious and surprisingly tender, Allison Burnett treats the subject of midlife dread and collapse with astonishing incisiveness. Burnett’s novel manages the delicious trick of being simultaneously evanescent and harrowing. It’s also really fucking funny."
—Matthew Spektor, author of That Summertime Sound and American Dream Machine.
"With pitch-perfect humor, The Escape of Malcolm Poe celebrates and exalts the absurdity of the human condition. Allison Burnett is as insightful as he is funny — and he is very, very funny."
—Sue Halpern, author of A Dog Walks Into a Nursing Home and Can't Remember What I Forgot
"Allison Burnett's prose is a near-impossible crossroads where the resplendent meets the acerbic. A wholly original voice that captures the Ulyssean wanderlust at the root of the post-modern white male's decline."
—David Kukoff, author of Children of the Canyon
"Here is the rapier wit, the unreliable narrator, and the high speed page-turning we have come to expect from Burnett. But his work has grown only more hilarious and lyrical with every book. Open it and start laughing, pondering, marveling. What you won’t do is stop reading."
—Dr. Michael Lipson, author of Stairway of Surprise and Group Meditation
"Malcolm himself is a wonder: furious, deluded, horribly funny, and somehow persistently worthy not only of the reader's attention but of his empathy as well. You may sometimes find yourself reading another page, and another page after that, almost in spite of yourself, but I can't imagine you'll be able to tear yourself away. This is fearless stuff."
—Benjamin Dreyer, author of The Last Word