By Floyd Inkjet
JOTR Books Editor
Who would have thought of assigning American newspapers to cover the crucifixion?
Award-winning newspaper reporter Joel Thurtell has achieved a literary tour de force with his portrayal of this journalistic challenge in his debut novel, CROSS PURPOSES, wherein the first Good Friday takes place in the present. CROSS PURPOSES is about a fictional Detroit daily that fumbles coverage of the Greatest Story. The antics of Detroit Filibuster reporters, editors and photographers are similar enough to actual newspaper behavior and mindsets to give lay people a good idea why the newspaper industry is in chaos.
Oh yes, Thurtell is the boss here at joelontheroad.com, but dear me, there’s no conflict — once again he has given me, Floyd Inkjet, a free hand to write this review without censorship so long as I’m positive and upbeat.
Writes former Detroit Free Press and Los Angeles Times columnist Mike Downey: “A Detroit newspaper covers the crucifixion! Stop the presses! Now there’s a story you don’t see in the media every day!”
Before his death, Detroit Free Press managing editor and publisher Neal Shine read CROSS PURPOSES and told Thurtell: “Really enjoyed it. All you need is an imprimatur from the Church of Rome.”
Subtitled IF NEWSPAPERS HAD COVERED THE CRUCIFIXION, CROSS PURPOSES is a primer on hubris, arrogance, prejudice, greed and ambition as driving forces in the news industry. It follows publication of Thurtell’s SHOESTRING REPORTER: HOW I GOT TO BE A BIG CITY REPORTER WITHOUT GOING TO J SCHOOL AND HOW YOU CAN DO IT TOO. A handbook on how to become a journalist and still retain intellectual honesty and autonomy, SHOESTRING REPORTER is the second volume of a four-part series about journalism, SHOESTRING QUARTET.
In CROSS PURPOSES, Filibuster religion writer Daley Strumm encounters obstacles that frustrate his reporting, but they are not put in his way by rival news organizations or government officials. His own newspaper creates havoc enough.
Thurtell was a newspaper reporter for more than thirty years at the Detroit Free Press and the South Bend Tribune. His blog, joelontheroad.com, was named “best example of an independent blogger raising hell” by MetroTimes, Detroit’s alternative newspaper.
The action in CROSS PURPOSES takes place on Good Friday, and the official publication date is Good Friday, April 22, 2011. However, amazon.com has CROSS PURPOSES in stock.
Release date: April 22, 2011
Hardalee Press ($20)
ISBN: 978-0-9759969-6-6
LC: 2010913331
For interviews, contact:
Joel Thurtell at joelthurtell@gmail.com
