{"id":2083,"date":"2025-02-24T14:11:00","date_gmt":"2025-02-24T14:11:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=2083"},"modified":"2025-02-24T14:11:00","modified_gmt":"2025-02-24T14:11:00","slug":"book-review-the-dreamers-quarry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/?p=2083","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: The Dreamer\u2019s Quarry"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Dreamer\u2019s Quarry<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

by Michael A. Luksch<\/p>\n

Genre:<\/strong> Literary Fiction<\/p>\n

ISBN: <\/strong>9798891325616<\/p>\n

Print Length:<\/strong> 64 pages<\/p>\n

Publisher:<\/strong> Atmosphere Press<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Reviewed by S.A. Evans<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong><\/strong>An authentic rendering of a writer\u2019s angst and melancholia in a time where the American Dream has become a falsehood<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Dreamer\u2019s Quarry<\/em> follows Warner, a twenty-seven-year-old writer who is trying to balance his monotonous day-job with his writing endeavors, but he\u2019s stuck in a creative rut.<\/p>\n

As Warner floats through life trying to find purpose and meaning, he interacts with his wife Rose, his coworker Jack, his friend Charlie, and finally comes across a mysterious stranger at a party by the name of Jameson. After meeting him, nothing is quite the same again.<\/p>\n

The story begins as Rose wishes Warner a good day at work, proclaiming this will be the day he will come home with a well-earned raise. At work, he chats with his coworker Jack about the common nature of the corporate world nowadays where a worker puts everything into the job only to receive very little in return. With low pay and few benefits (if any), there\u2019s a clear decline in employee satisfaction. A sad state of work-life balance is on glittering display.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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On the day of the annual review, Warner comes home with a certificate of appreciation and a 1% increase on his annual salary. At home, he sulks in his study with an unfinished manuscript and no motivation or inspiration to propel it forward. Soon after, Warner\u2019s friend Charlie invites him to bartend at a party. Wanting to help his friend and with no further progress on his writing, Warner goes.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It\u2019s during a smoke break when he meets Jameson. We don\u2019t learn much about Jameson during their exchange, but by the end of the interaction, Jameson invites Warner to a party at his house the following night, and Warner is all the more intrigued by him. As we get to him, we start to wonder if Jameson can set free the creativity that Warner\u2019s so desperate to release.<\/p>\n

The Dreamer\u2019s Quarry<\/em> expertly delivers on its portrayal of a struggling creative in the current world. Warner goes about his job without passion, but he doesn\u2019t have the motivation to do the things he cares about either. The positive feelings he has about writing are overshadowed by the criticism he\u2019s received and self-doubt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When Warner is asked if he\u2019s still writing, he responds by saying, \u201cNot as much lately, and I feel badly about it. Like I am not trying hard enough.\u201d<\/em><\/strong> As a writer myself, I can\u2019t count how many times I\u2019ve given that same response over the years. The coping mechanism he displays is spot-on. Rose, Charlie, and Jack all show concern for Warner, but Warner tends to brush things off, bottle up his emotions, and say he\u2019s all right even when when deep down he\u2019s clearly not. Warner acts as a mirror to the modern-day creative person. For those who love reading about writing, you\u2019re going to love this depiction.<\/p>\n

The prose is another highlight of this book, whether it be in discussing the never-ending cycle of a traditional 9-to-5 or in literary devices like foreshadowing: \u201cHe had a sturdy countenance, a flickering passion. But there was weariness in his face, a tired, defeating weight in his eyes such that, if looked at for long enough, and if alone, might procure a salty leak.\u201d<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

While the prose on the sentence level excels, a lack of scene setting and character development left me at an emotional distance. The story takes place in the Midwest from the end of Summer to early Fall, but with mild descriptions, scenes can feel like they\u2019re happening in empty white space and characters can feel like outlines. I would have loved to learn more about Rose and Warner\u2019s relationship, Warner and Jack\u2019s relationship, and even Charlie\u2019s. They are set up to be the closest people to Warner, but in reality, he\u2019s closest to Jameson, despite them only recently meeting. I\u2019m glad Jameson is here, of course; Warner needs a kindred spirit to ignite the flame.<\/p>\n

The Dreamer\u2019s Quarry<\/em> is a compelling exploration into the mind of a writer. The struggles can consume you, the 9-to-5 life can drain you, leaving you feeling adrift and aimless, but there remains the possibility of inspiration from the most unexpected sources. The journey to creation is a difficult one, and one best unrushed, but this story leaves you hopeful, ready to tackle what you can, while you can.<\/p>\n

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Thank you for reading S.A. Evans\u2019s book review of The Dreamer\u2019s Quarry <\/em>by Michael A. Luksch! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.<\/p>\n

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The post Book Review: The Dreamer\u2019s Quarry<\/a> appeared first on Independent Book Review<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Dreamer\u2019s Quarry by Michael A. Luksch Genre: Literary Fiction ISBN: 9798891325616 Print Length: 64 pages Publisher: Atmosphere Press Amazon Bookshop Reviewed by S.A. Evans An authentic rendering of a writer\u2019s angst and melancholia in a time where the American Dream has become a falsehood The Dreamer\u2019s Quarry follows Warner, a twenty-seven-year-old writer who is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bookreviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2083\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}