“Loved this. What a great read and respite from poetry.” —Dorianne Laux, finalist for the 2020 Pulitzer Prize
From the Publisher: “Told in alternating points of view, The Proprietor’s Song follows Innkeeper Stanley Uribe, tucked high up in California’s Sierras, as he tries to unravel the mysterious death of his sister Lorna, and Grace and Elwood Fisher, a comfortable, middle-aged couple from the Bay Area, who return every year to Death Valley where their son Jared disappeared over spring break. At its core, The Proprietor’s Song is a novel about devastating grief and renewed hope, all set among some of California’s most remote and haunting landscapes…”
More info About the Author: “An avid hiker, swimmer, and bicyclist, (Pitt graduate!)Janet Goldberg spends her spare time in California’s mountains and deserts. Her novel The Proprietor’s Song (Regal House, 2023) is set in the Eastern Sierras and Death Valley. She has a short story collection, Like Human, coming out in Fall 2025, from Cornerstone Press, University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point.”
Author Site “Janet Goldberg writes so powerfully of loss and grief. We follow the crooked paths of people left stumbling behind those who have gone on (a son, a sister) until we recognize our own intimate irresolvable journey in theirs. The author manages to say the unsayable. A truly original and effervescent writer.” —Stephanie Cowell, American Book Award recipient, author of Claude & Camille and The Boy in the Rain
“Goldberg’s poetic descriptions of Death Valley, its alluring and treacherous landscape, set the tone for The Proprietor’s Song, a subtle novel about grief, mortality, hope, and despair.” —Fredrick Soukup, author of Bliss and Blood Up North
Where was your favorite place to hang out during your time at Pitt?
There was a breakfast joint on Forbes that served the best buckwheat pancakes and endless coffee. Most mornings I’d down a stack, and that usually held me until dinner. I also drank a lot of beer at Hemingway’s. Backroom poetry readings were held there, and creative writing students and professors all shared pitchers while people read at the mic. Funny, I don’t like beer anymore; pancakes though still make me think fondly of my Pitt days.
What was unique about the Pitt writing program when you were there?
Ed Ochester and Lynn Emanuel for poetry and Chuck Kinder and Eve Shelnutt for fiction—all talented and kind professors. I also worked with Backspace, the student-run literary magazine at the time, and then started an independent literary magazine, Round & Catch, with a Pitt classmate. Now I edit fiction for Deep Wild, a journal that publishes literature about the wilderness.
What was the inspiration for writing your novel The Proprietor’s Song?
Twofold. Certainly California’s mountain and desert landscape inspired me, serving as the backdrop to the novel’s core issue—coping with loss, especially when a loved one dies or goes missing and there are no clear-cut answers as to why. My younger sister died unexpectedly in her mid-thirties, and I can’t say that the eventual explanation for what happened to her provided any real closure. Rather, it just haunted me. You may think knowing is better than not knowing, that knowing will bring closure, but closure may just be a myth.
You mentioned the California landscape. Can you say more about the importance of place in your writing?
The Proprietor’s Song explores the extreme connection some people have with the natural world. For some it leads to rebirth whereas for others it’s a place to fear. In my forthcoming short story collection, Like Human (Cornerstone Press, Fall 2025), characters sometimes are victims of place, whether they’re lulled by the illusion of safety in suburbia or are threatened by predators in the natural world.
Given your novel’s title, does music play an important role in The Proprietor’s Song?
Yes. In fact, in the novel, motel-owner Stanley Uribe refers to a set of bells on the office door jangling each time a guest checks in or checks out, and this serves as a metaphor for how we enter and leave this world. We’re all guests in a manner of speaking, aren’t we? But there’s more. Also included are song lyrics and a discussion of them, a James Wright poem, and material delivered in the form of newspaper articles. Brief quotes from Moby Dick, Dracula, and A Room with a View appear too. In this respect, The Proprietor’s Song might fall into the realm of an epistolary novel.
For more about Janet and The Proprietor’s Song, check out janetgoldberg.com!
Most importantly: Where are you located, what are your hours, and do you have a particular focus in terms of the Read more
This just in from our friends at WCoNA: "To provide additional preparation time, we’ve extended the deadline to submit a Read more
About the Author: "Sean Gregory always loved fiction. At an early age he began reading the Hardy Boys and quickly Read more
One of our favorite local authors, Joshua David Bellin (author, most recently, of MYRIAD) just let us know that he's Read more
A lyrical and heartfelt tribute from a parent to their “everything,” their child. From the Publisher: "Following a parent and Read more
From City Books’ website: "About the Residency The City Books Writer’s Residency offers flexible access to a comfortable, creative space within Read more
Altoona, PA—The WCoNA Writers Conference of Northern Appalachia® (here and after WCoNA) is pleased to announce a call for nominations Read more
love, Pittsburgh is hosting a “Pittsburgh Dog & Frog” coloring contest! Kids, color a page from the children’s book, “Pittsburgh Read more
From Parsec (Pittsburgh's premier Science Fiction & Fantasy Organization): "The theme of Parsec Ink’s 2025 Triangulation anthology is Dark Hearts. Read more
From Prime Stage Theatre: According to Shakepeare’s melancholy prince Hamlet, “The play is the thing, wherein I'll catch the conscience Read more
Littsburgh has always been a “nights and weekends” passion project, ever since we started the site back in 2015. We Read more
New York Times-bestselling author Patrick Radden Keefe will be featured at The Peters Township Library Foundation’s seventh annual Novel November Read more
"Life on the streets is hard but it's deadly when a young woman battles addiction." From the Publisher: "Where is Read more
"Founded in 2007 and sponsored by Madwomen in the Attic, the Patricia Dobler Poetry Award was created to honor the Read more
From the Publisher: "Somehow, the sun always finds its way through the windows of the five mansions on Wisteria Drive. Read more
From the Publisher: "Calling My Life With Literacy a 'new intersectionality,' Harvey J. Graff explores both overarching and underlying patterns that Read more
From the Publisher: "An eyewitness to a murder calls the Pittsburgh police from one of the city’s 446 bridges, then Read more
In case you missed the latest email from White Whale, they're currently hiring ("which we really don’t do very often!"). Read more
This just in from our friends at Write Pittsburgh: "We are now accepting applications for our teen writing programs, Rule Read more
From the Publisher: “Bye, Ocean! We love you!” the little girl sang along, a big smile on her face, because Read more
