I was eagerly anticipating reading this book, Journey to Virginland, by Armen Melikian. I haven’t read a book for “me” in quite some time- Mostly just parenting books or easy reads that I can read in the last 10 minuets of my day before I fall asleep, so I set aside one night completely devoted to reading. Journey to Virginland was the “adult” book that I could not wait to dive into, and it exceeded all my expectations!
This well written satire was a joy to read. It is about the main character, Dog, who is on a journey to find the meaning of life and self discovery. He is a very deep, raw character, and I highly believe a little bit of everyone lives in Dog. Melikian will rivet you into Dogs journey and you will not want to leave.
Journey to Virginland is a book where one must not get offended. Melikian gives the reader a myriad of topics to reflect on as they travel with Dog on his journey. Dog lashes out on religion, gender roles, sexuality, leadership, politics and the reader must be willing to laugh with it. The Reader must go into the book with an open mind, and relish the wit and sarcasm of Dog. This is my kind of humor, I love when people can poke fun at themselves, and other people; and Dog is an equal opportinity employer when it comes to his
His sarcasm will make you snicker and thinking as you turn pages. There were times in the reading where I would have to go back and reread a paragraph or two. This is not an easy read for someone to read in there last minutes of falling asleep- I stayed up quite late to make sure I could finish it uninterrupted. I always can tell of a good book when I find myself thinking about the book after I have read it; and this was one book where my mind would not shut off.
Id love to share the love and wit of this book, I'm going to give it away to a reader!
One lucky US reader will be picked at random on Friday February 24. To enter: Please send an email to me at littlerightleg@gmail.com with the subject “Virginland,” for an additional entry, become a follower of this blog! Happy Reading!
For more information on this book, go to Journey to Virginland's website.
Here is more about the Author Armen Melikian:
Armen Melikian (b. 1963) holds a Master's in International Relations from American University, Washington, D.C. He has also studied mathematics at Harvard and elsewhere, and was admitted by the Mathematical Institute of Oxford University to pursue graduate studies in Analytic Geometry, Mathematical Physics, and Topology. However, he eventually abandoned both politics and mathematics in favor of literature and dedicated his life to writing. Melikian lives in Los Angeles.
Melikian is one of those rare thinkers whose intensity of passion matches their sharp wit and intellect. His poignant observations take to task the core tenets of metaideologies and jockeying civilizations, helping to discard layer after layer of entrenched misinformation and dogma.
Melikian brings a fresh, prodigiously layered voice to contemporary literature, not only expanding the boundaries of the novelistic endeavor as an artistic medium per se, but infusing it with extraordinary urgency and relevance in terms of sociopolitical, cultural, religious, and philosophical thought as well as mythological exegesis.
To date, awards and honors earned by Melikian's debut novel, Journey to Virginland, include the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Best Fiction. The novel was selected by the Next Generation Indie Book Awards as one of the year’s top five books in Humor/Comedy, and received the only Honorable Mention in the Literary Fiction category at ForeWord Reviews’ Book of the Year Awards. These awards were based on a limited prepublication copy of the book that was made available by the publisher before its release.
Given its prescient vision of the shape of things to come, Melikian’s novel has been compared by critics to some of the masterpieces of contemporary literature, among them the politically explosive works of George Orwell. It has also been compared to Gurdjieff's Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, and even to the book of Revelation.
Melikian is one of those rare thinkers whose intensity of passion matches their sharp wit and intellect. His poignant observations take to task the core tenets of metaideologies and jockeying civilizations, helping to discard layer after layer of entrenched misinformation and dogma.
Melikian brings a fresh, prodigiously layered voice to contemporary literature, not only expanding the boundaries of the novelistic endeavor as an artistic medium per se, but infusing it with extraordinary urgency and relevance in terms of sociopolitical, cultural, religious, and philosophical thought as well as mythological exegesis.
To date, awards and honors earned by Melikian's debut novel, Journey to Virginland, include the Pinnacle Book Achievement Award for Best Fiction. The novel was selected by the Next Generation Indie Book Awards as one of the year’s top five books in Humor/Comedy, and received the only Honorable Mention in the Literary Fiction category at ForeWord Reviews’ Book of the Year Awards. These awards were based on a limited prepublication copy of the book that was made available by the publisher before its release.
Given its prescient vision of the shape of things to come, Melikian’s novel has been compared by critics to some of the masterpieces of contemporary literature, among them the politically explosive works of George Orwell. It has also been compared to Gurdjieff's Beelzebub's Tales to His Grandson, and even to the book of Revelation.
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