Lambda Literary Awards finalist, Bisexual Fiction and Lesbian Debut Fiction
"A master class in sparse, clear prose, Fall Asleep Forgetting
is a compelling and mesmerizing read, infused with an elegiac ambience.
It will make you laugh and cry in equal measures. You’ll not fall asleep
forgetting this book." --New York Journal of Books
The novel represents the highest form of literary art, a deft melding of religion, sex, love, illness, and death into a compelling story. The only comparable work that comes to mind in this regard is Evelyn Waugh’s masterful Brideshead Revisited, a novel of genius despite its flaws, snobbishness, and mean-spirited attacks on the lower classes. Fall Asleep Forgetting balances emotional sentiment and the hard events of everyday life with a sumptuous sensuality. The balance parallels the best made Cosmopolitan, a cocktail dependent on the exact proportions of Vodka, Triple Sec, and cranberry juice. --Driftless Area Review
A trailer park on Long Island Sound circa 2001 is the odd-character setting for Packard’s haunting novel about fearless dying, bitter bigotry, religious fervor, sexual intimacy, rocky marriage and really luscious food. Restaurant owner Paul is dying of cancer, and worries that his withdrawn wife, Sloan, will be emotionally and erotically adrift after he’s gone. So when park ranger Claude (a woman) becomes entangled in their lives, Paul – planning his suicide – is content to nurture her relationship with his wife. Packard adds a slew of colorful characters to the mix, most notably transvestite Cherry Pickens, who lords over the ramshackle trailer park with muscular mate Barton; Saugerties, a homophobic Korean war vet; flirtatious Rae, who has goo-goo eyes for Cherry’s hunky man; and precocious nine-year-old Six, Rae’s daughter, a mini-seer whose independent ways link all the characters. Packard’s prose, lush and mystical, is also sometimes challenging; shifting points of view invite a close reading. This isn’t a book to skim, it’s a read to savor. --Book Marks, Q Syndicate
"An intense, original, and thoroughly grownup novel. In sensuous and poetic language,Packard tells a powerful story of a group of oddball characters joined only by place and a desire to in some way ease the pain of a beautiful, doomed man. This novel resonates."
—Patricia Grossman, author of Radiant Daughter and
Ferro-Grumley Award winning novelist for Brian In Three Seasons
"In the wake of the recent ruling overturning Proposition 8, California’s ban against same-sex marriage, a new novel about lesbian desire takes on special resonance. And particular resonance, since the setting of the book is the North Fork of Long Island. And unusual resonance, since the story takes place in a trailer park, not your typical setting for a story suffused with poetry that’s about the need and nature of affection and love.
Georgeann Packard’s spare and lyrical narrative Fall Asleep Forgetting may not gain a wide readership because of its odd characters, including a Biblical spouting 9-year old named Six and a transvestite. And because of the novel’s shifting perspective and mix of styles. But for these very same reasons, it should attract readers interested in original and passionate fiction, and in some wonderful observations about the land off Orient Point – the “glories of the sea, the massive boulders” and “waves like marching squadrons” that churn up the green water. --Joan Baum for NPR, Connecticut
"Forget reading some mindless chick lit novel; take this one to the beach instead. Fall Asleep Forgetting is full of lust, heated sexual encounters and intense emotions that stem from fresh and recharged connections." –Amy Steele, Entertainment Realm
An elegant man, restaurant owner and poet, designs his end-of-life drama to
be performed on a beach
in early September. He fails to include, however, the intensity of his
wife's sexual nature, an unlikely
third party, and the forces of human nature that rip through this small
community of misfits living on
Long Island's eastern tip.
Whether black or white, gay or straight, young or old, liberal or
conservative - all struggle with humor
and heart to survive this summer of 2001. Some are plagued by
overindulgence in lavish foods or
religious zeal or sexual desire. Their lives collide in surprising ways and
each, at some point, is
provided an opportunity to act heroically.
These are individuals to be remembered, maybe treasured, or possibly, even
forgiven.
In the end, you may want to revisit your own definitions of love, religion,
and sexual identity . . . maybe
even consider the way that a death might become a form of group salvation.
GEORGEANN PACKARD is a writer, graphic designer, and photographer who also designs, draws and installs landscapes on the North Fork of Long Island.