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Tony Gentry

@logentry.bsky.social

Writer and woods walker. Lifetime lefty. Bon Air, Virginia, US #Harvard #NYU #UVA #VCU occupational therapy prof emeritus. Licensed OT. Photos: @wandering.wow2.bsky.social Writing: https://tonygentry.com #fiction #books #photography #RVA

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Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 4d ago

In the mountains of Virginia, Christiansburg, to be precise. These shots one block away from each other, last Saturday. As our Heartland bard John Mellencamp opined, ain't that America...?

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 4d ago

Looking forward to this event! And grateful to be an invited guest author there.

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 6d ago

Watching the Fauci "hearing", Paul and the other GOP Senators striving to rewrite history so Trump looks good, sent me back to this photo I posted in July 2020, 4 months into the pandemic. That number, as we know, just kept growing....

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 2w ago

Quite thorough article about the Authors Against Banned Books event here in Richmond. That's me with a 1959 paperback first edition of Lady Chatterley's Lover (a cherished tome)! Info in the article, too, about how you can pitch in: #books #bannedbooks #booksky #RVA @bookpeoplerva.bsky.social

Henrico bookstore raises money to fight book bans with a read-in and a reckoning

About 30 book lovers gathered at Book People’s Ridgefield Parkway store in Henrico's Far West End July 14 with banned books in hand for an evening that blended community read-in with a larger conversa...

henricocitizen.com

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 2w ago

Okay, as the author of several young adult biographies of famous Black Americans, I do have a dog in this fight. But the biographies on this list, all white males, I mean, come on! #books #bannedbooks #booksky #Texas #reading

Texas Book List: See What Students Will Be Required to Read (Gift Article)

What is essential reading? Texas has an answer: Classics, including the Bible.

nytimes.com

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 2w ago

Sharing this on point review that includes my new novel Covenant City (and another one by my longtime friend Katy Munger), plus a bunch of worthy indies. #books #booksky #speculativefiction #SF #bookreview #RVA

13 Underrated Books You've Probably Never Heard Of

YouTube video by Topher's Library

youtu.be

Hoodlum 🇺🇸@nothoodlum.bsky.social · 3w ago

“You said the 2020 election was rigged by either Venezuela or China. When you called that fella in Georgia pleading for 11,780 votes, was that part of the rigging, or part of the 6-year investigation? Just one more thing, sir, who was president while all this rigging took place?”

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 3w ago

Gotta say (cough), it is a kind of marvel that my splitting headache down here in Richmond, Virginia is caused by the vaporous molecules of burning trees in Canada. Not gonna write a poem about it or anything, but still.... #RVA #wildfires

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 3w ago

Learn more: www.tonygentry.com #books #booksky #newbook #SFbooks #speculativefiction #RVA

Book People RVA @bookpeoplerva.bsky.social · last mo.

This is what supporting local authors looks like in our shop. Face out, front and center, best shelf in the place. Yes, you can get bestsellers and big names here, too. But our local friends don't compete for space. They own the space. #ShopLocal #SupportLocalAuthors

Tony Gentry@logentry.bsky.social · last mo.

Just wow. The thrill of seeing two of my books displayed at a bookstore (here at Book People RVA @bookpeoplerva.bsky.social). #books #writing #booksky #bookstores #RVA

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 3w ago

Happy to have participated in this Authors Against Banned Books Event - now let's get to writing our lawmakers! #books #bannedbooks #writing #RVA

Book People RVA@bookpeoplerva.bsky.social · 3w ago

A huge THANK YOU to everyone who came out for the Authors Against Book Bans ( @authorsabb.bsky.social ) Read-In with authors Meg Medina and @sararaaschbooks.com , co-sponsored with @jamesriverwriters.bsky.social. A packed house to read, listen, ask questions, and take action.

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 3w ago

Ahead of tonight's Authors Against Banned Books event here in Richmond, have been thinking about the banned books that have meant so much to me, among them these twelve. Hard to imagine where I'd be without each of them falling into my hands at exactly the right moment. #books #booksky #RVA

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 3w ago

Tonight at @bookpeoplerva.bsky.social, joining in this event, where I'll be reading from the original banned book Lady Chatterley's Lover (the tale that launched a sea of romance novels). #bannedbooks #books #Booksky #writing #bookstores #RVA

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 4w ago

Grateful for this thoughtful and insightful discussion of my new novel by uber-reviewer Topher's Library (check out his Youtube channel here: www.youtube.com/topherslibrary/ (in ALT see the longer review I cut and pasted from Fable):

Excerpt from Topher's Library review on Fable:

I’m not sure I can fully put into words what it was like to read Covenant City by Tony Gentry. On one hand, this is a fast-paced, immersive, and highly accessible novel told from the perspective of a 19-year-old. On the other, the subject matter feels so unfortunately plausible that there were moments when I found myself bordering on nausea. This is a dystopian, coming-of-age-esque novel set in Richmond, Virginia, and because I live in the area, the setting made the story especially immersive. I could picture many of the places being described, which made the world of the book feel that much closer and more unsettling. Because the story is told from the perspective of a 19-year-old, it occasionally reads like YA, but I think that is intentional. It does not diminish the impact of what Gentry is doing. If anything, it makes the book incredibly easy to enter and difficult to put down. What the novel captures particularly well is how quickly a society can slide into groupthink and accept ideas that once would have seemed unthinkable. By the time people finally stop and ask, “How did we ever get here?” the machinery is already in motion. The book explores fascism, racism, racial purity, and what can happen when certain beliefs about identity, power, and belonging are carried to their logical extremes. Some of what unfolds may initially feel far-fetched, but history has shown repeatedly that societies are capable of normalizing things that once seemed impossible. That awareness is part of what makes the novel so uncomfortable. That is one of the reasons I think Covenant City could be an excellent book club selection, particularly for a group made up of people with different beliefs, ideologies, and political perspectives. With clear boundaries and a willingness to listen, this could lead to an incredibly rich discussion. This is a book I would encourage almost anyone to pick up.

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · last mo.

On the Big 250: One old man's highly personal Top Ten list of pop songs that explain America (see gloss in ALT tag). #4thofJuly #America250 #popsongs #music

10. The great American poet Chuck Berry's most overtly patriotic song, though everything he sang was straight up America
9. The saddest song every sung about American capitalism, and what is America but that?
8. Like Chuck Berry, everything the Band sang was about America, though in the Band's case, its folk history. So could have picked any of theirs - this one will do.
7. Close second to Holiday's critique of capitalism, with a dollop of cronyism thrown in for good measure
6. Bruce, too, is of, by, and for America, the American workingman to be specific. Considered choosing Darkness on the Edge of Town, considered Rosalita, but couldn't not add this one, right?
5. Name me a better song about the American dream and struggling for it
4. I first heard Charles' version on his LP "A Message from the People" I got from Columbia House mail order in high school. That whole album is an overlooked gem from his later years
3. This was Simon's Bicentennial dirge in the wake of Vietnam and Nixon. 50 years later, more on point than ever, ain't it?
1. Tie for Number One. We sang Guthrie's song in grade school, around the time Dylan was hitting his stride. Like Berry, and the Band, and Bruce, everything our nation's two great folk tune bards have sung is about these United States.

Okay, anyone care to play? What would you add or subtract from my little list?

Happy 250 everyone - may we survive to 251.

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · last mo.

If you missed this mind-bending novel first time around, you can grab it now:

Paul Witcover@paulwitcover.bsky.social · last mo.

Here's the reissue of my 2nd novel, Tumbling After, out from ReAnimus Press and with thanks to SFWA's Heritage Author Republication Project! "A gifted, fiercely original writer whose genre-bending fiction deserves the widest possible attention."—The Washington Post www.amazon.com/Tumbling-Aft...

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · last mo.

Just wow. The thrill of seeing two of my books displayed at a bookstore (here at Book People RVA @bookpeoplerva.bsky.social). #books #writing #booksky #bookstores #RVA

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 2mo ago

My new novel, out now: #books #writing #booksky #dystopian #RVA #Resist

cover of my new novel Covenant City with golden statue of fat man in long necktie centered. Caption reads: People keep saying the election will fix things, but what if there are no elections? The story imagines a radical remigration plan put in place after elections are canceled and martial law enacted, with Richmond, Virginia ground zero for the experiment.

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 2mo ago

At the launch for my new novel Covenant City, was asked to name 3 other dystopian tales that I admire. See ALT TXT for my comments on them: #books #dystopia #BookSky #writing #reading

color photo, covers of the following 3 novels, side-by-side:

It Can't Happen Here (1934) is a stark reminder of how close America came to white supremacist fascism before WWII, and boy did Lewis nail small-town, small-minded goobers.

1984 (1949) is, of course, the uber dystopia. The jaw-imbedded AI minder in my book is an auditory version of the 2-way Big Brother tv screens in Orwell's. Chilling to think how our devices track us, and how easy it would be for the govt to take over that surveillance to control us.

American War (2017) could be a sequel to my novel; set in 2074, amidst the Second Civil War (this one fought over oil), its horrors - the coastline cities underwater, a pandemic that kills half the population, killer robot drones -- all too plausible.

Your turn - what's your favorite dystopian novel? Movie?

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Sharing excerpts from the wonderful launch for my new novel Covenant City here: www.tonygentry.com/post/covenant-city-book-launch/ #books #booksky #novels #newbooks #writing #resist #NoKings #RVA

Covenant City Book Launch

Sharing video excerpts from the wonderful book launch for Covenant City.

tonygentry.com

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 2mo ago

At the launch for my new novel Covenant City at Book People @bookpeoplerva.bsky.social, this bit explaining the all too plausible MAWA - Make America White-Assed - project the book imagines. Learn more at www.tonygentry.com. #books #booksky #RVA #novel #writing #newbook #dystopian

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Dr. Robert Coles has died (age 97). Today's NYT obituary lists his many accomplishments. Please see ALT TXT for the reading list from his course Literature of Social Reflection, which I was lucky enough to take, and which I now realize changed my life, career and writing. RIP, sir. #booksky #books

Reading list for The Literature of Social Reflection course:

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
Invisible Man
The Moviegoer
The Road to Wigan Pier
The Death of Ivan Ilych
Native Son
White Mule (William Carlos Williams)
The Displaced Person (Flannery O'Conner)
Tell Me a Riddle (Tillie Olsen)
Gravity and Grace (Simone Weil)
Poor People (William T. Colman

One note - I'm just one of so many impacted by Dr. Coles' work and career. It strikes me now that everything I write is filtered through these books and the way Coles taught them - focus on empathy, caring, dignity, de-othering.

Dear Dr. Coles, may you rest in peace.

Bent Trumpeter @benttrumpeter.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#measles #resist #Ididthat #Virginia #RVA

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Another of those Trump "I Did That!" stickers, this one on a slab of NY Strip steak that costs $45.20 (at Midlothian, VA Wegman's).

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Here's me, two years ago today, at the launch of my biographical novel The Night Doctor of Richmond at Book People RVA. Back there today to launch my new novel Covenant City. Come if you can! (1-3 pm) Book People is at 10464 Ridgefield Pkwy, Henrico. #books #Booksky #writing #RVA

Guy in blue short-sleeved shirt at a podium in front of shelved books, expression suggesting, "Who me?"

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Richmond book reviewer Topher's welcome take on my book (excerpted from his Youtube post (www.youtube.com/watch?v=hsogHqvpB80&t=340s/). If you like, learn more about the book here: www.tonygentry.com/ #books #novels #writing #booksky #RVA #history #blackhistory

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Saw this corrective flag on a restaurant window in Chelsea, NYC.

color photo - MAKE AMERICA GAY AGAIN rainbow flag stretched across a restaurant window

Book People RVA @bookpeoplerva.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Local authors are the lifeblood of local indies. From @logentry.bsky.social, "I just want to say thank you to David and Chris and Christy for caring, for sharing, and for showing what it means to run a real community bookstore. Richmond’s lucky to have you." More: www.tonygentry.com/post/thank-y...

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Shout out to Richmond's most devoted community bookstore, on the occasion of their hosting the launch of my new novel Covenant City this coming Saturday (they also launched my other two). www.tonygentry.com/post/thank-you-book-people-rva/ #books #bookstores #RVA #writing #BookSky

Tony Gentry @logentry.bsky.social · 2mo ago

It's Walt Whitman's birthday; his work has meant so much to me. Here's the clever frontispiece to the self-published first edition of Leaves of Grass (seen at his birthplace on Long Island); note he omits adding his name, letting that rakish etching say it all. #poetry #poem #BookSky #writing

color photo, frontispiece to book. On left page an etching of a casually posed man in shirtsleeves and a hat. On right page title Leaves of Grass. Brooklyn, New York, 1855. (Whitman left his name off, intending the etching to convey who he was.)