Rowan Darling, the protagonist of Andy Abramowitz’s third novel, Darling at the Campsite, is a 33-year-old record shop owner (and Talking Heads fanatic) with a past he has done his best to leave behind. But when the death of his older brother occasions a trip to his hometown of Maybee, Illinois for the funeral, he is forced to face the places and people he left behind. Particularly his one-time best friend Skid Hall, now married to Rowan’s old girlfriend, Margot Beckett.
Born and raised in Baltimore, Abramowitz now lives in Philadelphia. We connected with him to talk about his new novel, and the influences of his hometown on his work.
Rowan’s record store, Metaphysical Graffiti — does it have a real-life inspiration?
Soundgarden in Fells Point, of course! It’s one of my favorite places in the universe. It’s such a touchstone for me in terms of record stores that I couldn’t help but picture it as I was writing. One major difference though is that Soundgarden has customers, whereas Metaphysical Graffiti is populated almost exclusively by the people who work there. Soundgarden is also not nearly as dingy as the Graffiti.
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