Comfort Food: A Novel by Noah Ashenhurst

Noah Ashenhurst

Noah Ashenhurst is the author of the novel Comfort Food which won the 2006 Independent Publisher Book Award for Best Regional Fiction...

 contains a cast of characters: a romantic academic, a self-assured young writer, an enigmatic musician, a slacker, a wealthy mountaineer, and a former heroin addict—characters whose lives intersect in the unique, award-winning debut novel

Debut novel

A debut novel is the first novel an author publishes. Debut novels are the author's first opportunity to make an impact on the publishing industry, and thus the success or failure of a debut novel can affect the ability of the author to publish in the future...

.

Plot introduction

Stan Gillman-Reinhart is a graduate student at a small university in Bellingham, Washington

Bellingham, Washington

Bellingham is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington. It is the twelfth-largest city in the state. Situated on Bellingham Bay, Bellingham is protected by Lummi Island, Portage Island, and the Lummi Peninsula, and opens onto the Strait of Georgia...

 in 1993. Through his experiences and frustrations we meet Delany Richardson, a budding writer and old friend of Stan's; John Snyder, a local musician; Brian Fetzler, Stan's stoner roommate; Dave Greibing, a mountaineer and Delany's ex-boyfriend; and Bridgette Jonsen, a former heroin addict and Dave's current girlfriend.

Successive sections of the novel focus on John's earlier trip through Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...

, Delany's previous summer in Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...

, Brian's life after college, Bridgette's earlier road trip through Utah

Utah

Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...

, Dave's ascent of Denali, and a tragic accident that illuminates their lives.

Set in the verdant Pacific Northwest, the sandstone deserts of Utah, the gritty streets of Budapest

Budapest

Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...

, and the snow covered wasteland of Denali, Comfort Food is a literary work with an emphasis on the importance of human relationships and a sense of place.

Major themes

The major themes include: the difficulties of growing up and asserting one's individuality, the interconnectedness and power of relationships, addictions as a means to deal with the discomforts of being human, the power and impact of decisions in a morally bankrupt society, and the influence of place (especially in the American West).

Awards and nominations

Comfort Food: A Novel won the 2006 Independent Publisher Book Award for Best Regional Fiction (West-Pacific).