Book review: Brian Townsend's "Sessions"

The name of the book is “Sessions.” It’s the debut novel by Brian Townsend. I urge you to buy it. There. How’s THAT for a book review? Let me say it again: Buy this book. You’ll read it, quickly, and you’ll want to re-read it after you read it the first time. It’s THAT good. Listen. I’m not a book reviewer. I read a lot of books, but rarely do I review them. Allow me to stray into this territory for this post. Obviously, I’m biased. We’re all biased on this one. Brian’s one of our OWN. A 2012 alum of our cross country and track program, Brian is a Forever Fox. If you’re a parent, and your child has tried anything creative for the first time, you get excited. You get proud. How many “concerts” have we attended at varying stages of our kids’ elementary school years, listening to a discordant “Hot Cross Buns” for the hundredth time. It might as well be the London Symphony Orchestra, because it’s your kid and you’re beaming with pride.

Same concept applies here. Only this ain’t no “Hot Cross Buns.” This is a legit novel, with an incredibly complex, emotional and addicting story line. You know the book reviewer’s cliché, “I couldn’t put it down,” right? Well, that was literally the case with this book. Brian was nice enough to mail me an autographed copy of the book (it will be a cherished keepsake on my cluttered bookshelf for the rest of my life). I received it on Friday afternoon. On Friday evening, I started reading it, with the idea that “I don’t read fiction” but I’ll give it a try. Because it’s Brian’s book. I have three non-fiction books on my nightstand, one I’m almost done with, two more I’m eager to start or continue where I left off. Did I mention I love to read? Did I mention I only read non-fiction? So yeah. Friday night, I start reading it. I’m intrigued. I didn’t fall asleep while reading it (rare for me). Side note: I’m a slow reader, mostly because I fall asleep after several minutes and, at most, 10 pages. Since I often read boring (to others) non-fiction books, this means it takes weeks – sometimes months – for me to complete a book. What’s the difference; who’s keeping score? Most of my books, I take out of the public library anyway, and renew them as often as allowed. It took me almost the entire indoor track season (bus rides, hotel rooms, at home in bed) to get through an outstanding book about the impeachment of Andrew Johnson (“The Impeachers,’’ by Brenda Wineapple … highly recommend). What’s my point with this side note? OK. I started reading Brian’s book on Friday night. On Saturday, I continued reading it, really getting into it during my daughter’s hour-long swim session up in Kingston. Saturday night, I was sucked in even more. Sunday morning, I literally couldn’t put it down, until I finished it at around 9:30 a.m. This is so highly unusual for me.

This book is that good. It weaves several different stories and narratives, and they don’t come together until the very end of the book. Again, I’m not a fiction guy. Maybe this is standard formula for novels, but how would I know this? I was completely and totally sucked in to the dialog, the characters, the scenes. The mental imagery I have of the scenes and the characters is so crystal clear. I couldn’t stop thinking about these characters – out on my walk, while running errands this afternoon, even in my dreams last night (that almost never happens). They are fully formed in my mind. I read non-fiction; I “write” (if you can call it that) real stuff. I’m in awe of anyone that can write novels, poetry, anything that involves heaping helpings of creativity. I didn’t know Brian had this in him. I was barely aware of this project. Man, the kid (well, he’s not a kid, but you know how it is when you’re an older coach), this kid, he can write. He knocked it out of the park on his first at-bat as an author. So proud of him, and I hope he has great success with the promotion and sales on this novel. “Sessions,” by Brian Townsend. Go get a copy today, or buy it for someone on your holiday gift guide who likes to read. It’ll be worth every penny. Neat!