MONTAG PRESS
COLLECTIVE
B O O K S W O R T H B U R N I N G
Books by Zachary Amendt
STAY
STAY IS A REMARKABLE DEBUT by one of America’s best emerging young authors. These nine powerful stories portray conflicts of race and class in San Francisco’s East Bay in language that is profound and heartbreaking. A widower in the midst of a custody battle takes his daughter on a tour of America’s ballparks. The parents and friends of a slain Black teenager struggle to manage and express their grief under a harsh national spotlight. And in the title story, a childless couple in the path of a devastating firestorm is forced to decide what baseball memorabilia they value the most — and whether to flee or make a stand.
Zachary Amendt’s engaging style and mature narrative instinct make him one of our most essential storytellers.
Open Concept
“[B]eautifully-written, expertly-paced, and transportive .... a seemingly effortless piece of writing.” — Defiant Scribe
“Amendt’s strong characterization blends line-by-line with his punchy, inventive sentences to craft an outstanding collection that achieves the dramatic without the melodramatic.” — The Masters Review
“I have no doubt that [Amendt's] writing will soon appear in the “Best American NonRequired Reading” anthology or in the Pushcart Prize anthology. I also won’t be surprised to hear his name mentioned for any of the prestigious book awards. His writing deserves it.” — Cetywa Powell, Publisher, Underground Voices
The brilliant colors and dynamics that Zachary Amendt brought to his debut story collection, Stay, burst forth here in Open Concept with the same engaging exuberance distilled into exquisitely written, tightly arranged workouts that expertly capture the nervous character of the Snake Person generation.
The Amendt technique – formula is too rigid a word – is as rewarding as it is instantaneous, proving perhaps, that there is still plenty of room in contemporary literature for cool, calculated, adventuresome risk-taking stories.
FRESH Anthology
"[A] bit radical, a bit madcap ..." — Kristine Fisher
"[K]ept my attention rapt from start to finish ..." — David Styles
"[T]he complexity and diversity of the characters creates a range of reactions during reading [allowing] each tale to shine on its own merits ..." — December Cuccaro, Heavy Feather Review
"Every character ... feels like someone you might’ve known in real life." — Anna Codutti, Tulsa World
"Beautifully written with not a foot put wrong ..." — A.J. Hayes, Lux: The Road to Calithia
Curated by Zachary Amendt, FRESH gathers sixteen new works of literary distinction and merit into one pathbreaking anthology. Featuring selections from emerging writers including Christopher Connor, Gray Oxford and Amanda Marbais, this panoramic volume offers a rare glimpse into the breadth, promise and relevancy of contemporary fiction in the United States and abroad.
