Jonathan Raban, who made his home in Seattle for decades before his passing in January of 2023, worked on his memoir for over decade. Father and Son goes on sale September 19, 2023, and Mr. Raban will be on bookstore displays as well as many booksellers’ minds.
Raban won a Pacific Northwest Bookseller Award in 1997 for Bad Land: An American Romance. The headshot on the award website shows Raban as I remember him: wry smile and faded Nantucket-red baseball cap, with a jaunty scarf. I can still hear his rattling laugh and smell the remnants of cigarette smoke that clung to his corduroy jacket.
He was a regular at Queen Anne Avenue Books when I started working there in 1999, and we were all very proud to celebrate the release of his books. (I was lucky enough to be the event coordinator when Waxwings, his novel, came out.)
Those who knew Jonathan Raban personally, those who are fans of his books, and those who are meeting him for the first time through this memoir will enjoy his resilience, intelligence, and understanding of emotion throughout this final work.
–Tegan, Queen Anne Book Company, Seattle, WA