Paste Alumni Charles McNair and Jason Killingsworth Team Up on New Kickstarter Novel

Pulitzer-nominated novelist and former Paste Books editor Charles McNair’s latest book will no doubt be he his most visually stunning. That’s because it’s being published by former Paste deputy editor Jason Killingsworth’s Tune & Fairweather, a publishing house specializing in high-quality hardcover books.

The Epicureans focuses on a small-town Alabama family caught in the cross-hairs of a member of an international cabal of the uber-wealthy and uber-evil, and it’s a Southern gothic tale that would have had Flannery O’Connor on the edge of her reading chair. That most primal of horrors lurks at the back of McNair’s storytelling, but he’s imbued his tale with so much humanity and grace that neither the darkness of billionaire cannibals nor the everyday monsters we all must face can keep that Alabama sunshine from bursting through.

The Kickstarter campaign, which has just hit the one-third mark of its goal, ends Nov. 15. In addition to the illustrated hardcover version of the book, rewards include a limited-edition art print and commemorative plate. Listen to the first few chapters below: