SPILLAGE LAUNCHES TODAY AS YANKEES OPEN SEASON
Debut Novel by Michael Gross Takes Damn Yankees to New Level in Devilishly Fun Throwback to 70s New York
“Faustian comedy of 1970s New York, the counterculture, and the Yankees... rich in wicked humor... a crackerjack novel of love and self-discovery.”
- Publishers Weekly BookLife Editor’s Pick
(New York, NY, March 28, 2024) -- Michael Gross's rollicking debut novel Spillage, a fantastical love story featuring rookie pitching phenom and would-be NY-savior Nick "The Swan" Spillage, launches today as the real-life Yankees begin their 2024 baseball season.
Spillage is a wild play on the Faustian musical Damn Yankees, a rock and roll romance and a wickedly comic throwback to the chaos of New York City’s darkest days. The novel has won early critical acclaim with reviewers praising its originality, authenticity, charm, humor, prose style, characters, and plot.
"Wildly creative... Gross provides such a juicy, unusual plot that readers will be riveted."
- Kirkus Reviews"A raucous rendition of '70s New York... intriguing and unique... unforgettable."
- Independent Book Review"An infectiously entertaining comic novel, charming and delightfully confusing."
- Indie Reader "IR Approved""A must-read for anyone seeking an immersive literary experience rooted in the heart of one of America's most iconic cities."
- BookView Review "Five Stars"
Set in 1976, the novel takes place when the Big Apple is in sorry shape. Besieged on all sides, the city has become a graffiti-coated, garbage-filled, crime-ridden cauldron teetering on the edge of total collapse. Adding to New York’s towering woes, a revolutionary group called the Satanic Vanguard has kidnapped the mayor, set fire to Coney Island, and threatened further mayhem. All that Gotham has to hope for are its resurgent Yankees, who’ve come back from the dead to reach the World Series by riding the arm of their rookie pitching phenom Nick Spillage. But Satan and his Vanguard plan to snuff that hope out too. They’ve targeted a young, rock-and-roll loving East Village couple to help with their diabolic scheme. That leads to the Faustian bargain at the center of the story.
The novel is nearly 50 years in the making. Seventy-two-year-old debut novelist Gross began writing Spillage the year the story takes place and returned to the manuscript decades later with more mature eyes after a successful career as CEO of a leading strategic communications firm. As Indie Reader put it, “One of the strengths of the book is the verisimilitude of its setting, New York (especially the East Village), captured as a time capsule of on-the-spot reportage rather than retrospective imagination. The period detail is impeccable, the mise-on-scene utterly convincing.”
According to BookView, “Gross expertly weaves together elements of 1960s counterculture, political commentary, and romance to create a gritty yet poetic portrayal of New York City. With engaging dialogue and vibrant descriptions, the novel is both an ode to the city’s resilience and a powerful exploration of redemption.”
Spillage is now available for purchase at Amazon. For more information about the story and author, please visit SpillageBook.com
About the Book
Title: Spillage
Author: Michael Gross
Release Date: March 28, 2024
Publisher: Raab & Co.
Price $9.99 (Kindle Edition)
ASIN: B0CQPB9IXH
Price: $14.99 (Paperback)
ISBN: 979-8865879305
Pages: 290
About the Author
Michael Gross began writing Spillage in 1976, while working as managing editor of Fiction magazine, teaching, and earning his MFA at New York’s City College. Gross holds a BA from Trinity College and an MBA from New York University and received a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship. In 1978, he embarked on a forty-five-year career in crisis communications, culminating in his serving as CEO of Finsbury (now FGS Global). He is married with three children and three grandchildren and divides his time between Brooklyn and Fire Island, New York. To learn more, please follow him on Facebook @michaeljongross, Instagram @michaeljongross and X @spillageauthor.
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