Chicken House Press Signs Massachusetts Writer for an Irreverent Romp Through Oz
Maxwell signing his publishing contract.
Chicken House Press has secured J. T. Maxwell, MBA and business teacher from Clinton, MA. for his laugh-out-loud debut novel, Red Brick Road, a bold new take on The Wizard of Oz — the movie, not the book.
Using the classic masterpiece as a backdrop to explore what love really means, Maxwell tosses the main character into Oz during an upstate New York blizzard in 2008. On this odd journey of self discovery, we encounter the traditional cast of characters first introduced by L. Frank Baum in 1900 and immortalized on the Hollywood screen in 1939, but in ways we have never seen them before. It's funny, it's vulgar, it’s trippy, it's a celebration of old tech and fresh ideas.
J.T. has been a storyteller his whole life and has been sitting on the idea for this book since he was very young. It took a global pandemic closing down the world to give him the oomph he needed to really dive in.
Together with his wife of twenty-three years, two sons, and a pair of cats, he makes his home an hour west of Boston where he has settled into a teaching career after fifteen years in finance and banking. He loves a good road trip, maintaining their Victorian-era home, beer-making, and he is constantly on the hunt for the world’s best root beer float. The book is full of locations with personal relevance, intelligent Easter eggs and hidden trivia, and a sense of humour that jumps right off the page and slaps you in the face with hilarity.
RED BRICK ROAD is whimsical and irreverent, charming in the way of a Coen brother’s film; not highbrow but high calibre.
Reminiscent of the literary nonsense genre (with a healthy dose of rich intention and valuable lessons about being a good human in a broken world), Red Brick Road is going to be the most fun you’ve had with a book in very long time.
Watch for it in 2024.
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