Kickstarter

Welcome everyone to Soup's On! On August 17, we achieved our original funding goal of $1,816! In order to celebrate this achievement, we are offering bonus rewards to those who pledge between now and the end of the project on August 26 and we have instituted new stretch goals!

There is a new $4 reward, as well as a new top prize for pledges of $768+ -- a hand-drawn graphic novel version of Soup's On!

Additionally, all future backers of $32+ will receive a special, commemorative reward of their choice from the following list:

-A completely personalized short story! 

-An annotated, hardcover copy of the book! 

-Handwritten letters from me about my writing every week for a year!

Which will you choose? Moving on, our new stretch goals are as follows: 

[ACHIEVED] If we reach $2,516, I will work on handcrafting soup bowls for every backer. That's right: a hand-made, custom soup bowl for everyone!

[ACHIEVED] If we reach $3,016, I will be able to do a series of audio recordings of me reading Soup's On! These recordings will be like a book-on-tape (or "audiobook" as the kids say these days) and it will be very fun. I will release these recordings exclusively to backers by December, 2012.

If we reach $3,516, I will write a short story set in the universe of Soup's On that I will make available exclusively to backers, free of charge. This would be finished by December, 2012.

If we reach $4,016, I will write and collect together 3 stories set in the universe of Soup's On. This collection would be made available exclusively to backers, free of charge and would read like a bonus Soup's On novella. This would be finished by December, 2012. 

And, due to the popularity of the fez promotion, every backer shall also receive an autographed fez to commemorate our success!

Thanks again to everyone who has taken an interest in Soup's On! I am hard at work crafting it even as you read this, which I could not have been without your support.

And, now, on to the story!

The Story  

Soup's On unfolds in five parts and tells the story of Jon Jericho Isidore, a young man who must open up a soup restaurant in order to fulfill a bizarre stipulation of his recently deceased grandfather's will. If the restaurant proves successful, Isidore stands to inherit a $500 million fortune. 

As the novel opens, Isidore asks a close friend, Everett Michael Adams, for his help in opening the restaurant. He explains that some unnamed associates of his have offered to let him use some premises they own, ostensibly simply in exchange for a cut of the profits. The premises, as it turns out, are an old restaurant in Tunis, the capital of Tunisia. Isidore's friend, an expert in Arab culture, agrees to offer his services. 

Later in the novel, we learn of Isidore's deceased grandfather's youth and experiences in the Second World War, as well his lifelong feeling of indebtedness to the Dutch restauranteur who saved his life and hid him from the Gestapo at great personal risk. Motivations begin to become clear.   

As the novel progresses, Isidore, with the assistance of a famous aging Dutch soup master, opens the restaurant in Tunisia to great acclaim. However, further complications crop up when it turns out that he had made a deal with his associates, the owners of the premises, to launder drug money through the restaurant. 

After considerable personal introspection, Isidore decides to attempt to clean up his operation, and, consequentially, is confronted by a notorious and terrifying Afghani drug lord who insists that Isidore step things up and join him in the opium trade. All of the characters must confront their decisions and identities in the wake of this situation, and things become dangerous. 

In sum, Soup's On is a novel of identity, history, and, most importantly, the interconnectedness of us all. 

It also spends rather some time on soup.

Excerpts and further information may be found here.

Thank you for taking an interest in my story. 

Why Support Giuseppe & Soup's On?

I hope this doesn't come across as hubris (I am not a prideful man, pinky promises) but I sincerely feel that Soup's On has the potential to be not only a good book, but the sort of book that people will talk about. That is, I think people will not only read it, but will chat with their friends about it afterward.

I have been writing for literally my entire life and have received domestic and international awards and accolades for my work. I have self published a collection of poetry, Druidic Perspicacity, which has been well received and which, to my surprise, has earned me an honorary membership in the Academy of American Poets. 

My short fiction has also earned me awards, as has my literary nonfiction. My scholarly work on Shakespeare, Hemingway, Joyce and Proust has also earned me scholarships and awards. I am a student of literature, always, and an admirer of the beautiful, always. 

And I will do my damnedest to write you a beautiful novel.