First kiss, first novel, and all the other obvious comparisons. It's trite but true: No subsequent book you write will ever hold quite the same place in your affections and memories as the first one.
Children started as a short story. Before I finished the story, I decided I needed to start at the beginning again and rewrite it. The second time through, it was a much longer short story. I repeated the process a few times, over a period of three years. By the end of that time, I had finished the story, but the story was a novel -- a very long novel.
When I sold the book to Pocket (after a year of rejections), my editor told me that she loved the book, but it was far too long and would have to be cut.
I made the cuts myself, weeping over every precious, brilliant paragraph. But I'm probably a better man for it. I'm sure that Children is a better book for it.
The Rocky Mountain News called it fascinating and predicted,
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"It seems likely that the name David Dvorkin will become well known in the science fiction world." | |
Chicago Daily News
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"David Dvorkin makes an auspicious debut in his first novel. ... Dvorkin unfolds an eminently readable story with an ingratiating sense of humor." | |
ALA Booklist
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"An auspicious first novel with excellent characterizations and a deft, engrossing contrast between unbridled commercialism and concern for one's fellow beings. Dvorkin's delightfully oblique humor keeps the message from degenerating into a sermon." | |