David Ebenbach writes. He has been writing ever since he was a kid, when he kept his whole family awake by banging away on an enormous manual typewriter, and he's never wanted to stop. He is the author of eight books of fiction, poetry, and non-fiction, and his work has picked up awards along the way: the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, the Juniper Prize, the Patricia Bibby Award, and more.
A Philadelphia native, these days David does most of his writing in Washington, DC, where he lives with his family--because he uses a laptop now, he doesn't keep them awake with his typing--and where he works at Georgetown University, teaching creative writing and literature.
Hollywood Reporter What to Watch, Play, and Read in 2021
A Nerd Daily Fantasy and Sci Fi Book to Look Out For "Ebenbach
explores science fiction for the first time in this clever novel
focused on a one-way trip to the red planet. Financed by an
eccentric billionaire with funding via reality television, six
scientists emerge from a 'Survivors' gauntlet of seemingly
meaningless tests. After two years on Mars, the reality series has
been cancelled and the science-ing has been reduced to the humdrum.
The engineer from Denmark has alienated himself by expressing his
right to do whatever he wants, while the psychologist and
astronomer find themselves revealed as breakers of the one hard
rule laid down by the managers of the project: no sex. Vignettes of
mundane concerns are interspersed with excerpts from the unofficial
Destination Mars! handbook by the organization's founder. The
poignancy of the impossible pregnancy is the Bradbury touch, the
reality show framework carries fingerprints of Douglas Adams, and
the handbook provides a Vonnegut-esque struggle with the paradoxes
of the human condition. How to Mars is Andy Weir's The Martian
(2014) infused with poetry in a superbly concise package."
--Booklist "David Ebenbach's new novel wittily dismantles the
classic space adventure story. In it, the first colonists on Mars
struggle not only with the technical and existential challenges of
living on another world, but also with much more familiar
conundrums: boredom, cabin fever, a crazy coworker, an unplanned
pregnancy, corporate incompetence. Funny and wonderfully inventive,
How to Mars is equal parts an absurdist cautionary tale and a
warm-hearted exploration of those things, good, bad and
indifferent, that make us human."
--Emily Mitchell, author of Viral Stories "How to Mars is funny,
poignant, and a perfect example of how not to settle Mars."
--Analog "Six Marsonauts must survive on the red planet after their
reality TV show is canceled in this delightfully unconventional
novel. Two years after having been chosen to receive one-way
tickets to Mars for a lifetime of research--all while living under
constant surveillance for TV--six scientists are finding life
undeniably monotonous, especially since their show was canceled
because of low ratings. 'After a while even scientists can get
bored of science. Especially here. Mars, I can tell you, is pretty
much rocks, rocks, rocks, ' according to Josh, a psychologist. But
when Jenny, the astrophysicist, realizes she's pregnant after
having begun a romantic relationship with Josh--although the
Destination Mars! Handbook repeatedly stresses that sex is strictly
forbidden--the small community must come together to resolve the
looming issues associated with welcoming a newborn into their
cramped habitat. Not surprisingly, once the TV producers are made
aware of Jenny's pregnancy, the show is brought back and ratings
soar. Told from the perspectives of various characters--even
ethereal Martian life-forms that refer to themselves as the
Patterns--and complemented with excerpts from the Destination Mars!
handbook and Jenny's humorous research notes, the story has a
strong sense of whimsy, but Ebenbach also creates depth by
exploring issues like engineer Stefan's feelings of estrangement
and violence and Jenny's guilt over her sister's suicide years
earlier. A poignant examination of what it means to be human."
--Kirkus "All the old pleasures of SF come back, together with a
surefooted grasp of character, an engagingly wry sense of humor,
and a unique take on the new wedding of serious space engineering,
social media, reality TV and business hype. If [Elon] Musk were a
poet, this is how he would sound."
--Frederick Turner, author of Genesis "Among scenes that find the
six establishing mundane Martian routines come riotous clips from
the Destination Mars! handbook, flashbacks to the torturous tests
that Destination Mars! subjected its applicants to, and notes from
the field (both the Martian landscape, and the six's internal
topographies). The combination is irresistible fun. Through its
heartbreaks and surprises, How to Mars is an interplanetary
delight."
--Foreword "Ebenbach (Miss Portland) imagines the first pregnancy
on Mars in this gentle, domestic sci-fi novel of a reality show
gone interplanetary. Two years into the filming of reality show
Destination Mars! the cast have settled into a quotidian routine on
the Red Planet, leading to declining ratings and a production
shutdown. Jenny, an astrophysicist, maintains the team's telescope,
and Josh, a psychologist, works to keep things running smoothly in
the Destination Mars! base camp. Ignoring the constantly repeated
prohibitions against intercourse ("Even Elton John thinks it's a
bad idea," warns the Destination Mars! handbook ), the pair have
sex--repeatedly--and despite their prophylactic precautions, soon
Jenny is expecting the first child born off Earth. The challenge of
a developing life adds both stress and excitement to a base grown
weary of Mars and discouraged with searching for alien life. It
also brings the attention of some Mars inhabitants who, like
Stefan, the team engineer, fear the additional chaos that a bawling
baby will bring to the quiet planet. Ebenbach keeps an intimate
focus on Jenny's pregnancy while portraying the technical details
of base living through a satiric lens that sees the relentless
deliveries of useless towels and the revival of freeze-dried
goldfish. The result is funny, fresh, and winsome."
--Publishers Weekly "Explores with both humour and pathos the
consequences of humanity leaving the challenging task of
extraterrestrial colonisation to a TV company focused on ratings
and sponsorship opportunities . . . The humour has shades of
Douglas Adams, whose Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series
excelled at satirising the frustrations of ordinary people battling
faceless bureaucracy. In Ebenbach's novel, Destination Mars!
saddles the colonists with towels that aren't absorbent because
they bear enormous company logos.
--New Scientist "A thorough examination of human nature and what
not to do. Trips to Mars will definitely contain this How to Mars
guide book to survival in their travel packs, and it will be space
well spent."
--Joe R Lansdale, author of Born for Trouble "How to Mars is an
out-of-this-world human migration story that's wonderfully weird,
stylistically creative, darkly funny and unexpectedly moving."
--New Straits Times "Grab a copy, enjoy a very funny,
tongue-in-check read which may turn out to be eventually, in the
maybe not too far distant future, not so fanciful after all!"
--Blue Wolf Reviews "Immersive and believable and also, in its
vision of humanity believing in the possibility of something new
and better, hopeful and moving."
--Sci Fi and Scary "5/5 Stars. Strap in and get ready to blast off
on one wild ride. Very much recommended.
--BookAnon "Highly recommended."
--She Treads Softly Praise for David Ebenbach On The Guy We Didn't
Invite to the Orgy "David Ebenbach inhabits a series of minds that
most of us would classify as unknowable; he does so with empathy
and wisdom, and often with humor as well."
?Roy Kesey, author of Any Deadly Thing and Pacazo On Autogeography
"Wit, tenderness and an earnest attention."
--Jennifer K. Sweeney, award-winning author of How to Live on Bread
and Music and Salt Memory On Miss Portland "A complex, intimate,
and deeply humane portrait of a person whose experience of the
world is both alternate and poignantly familiar."
--Foreword Reviews "Anybody who has ever tried (again) to make a
fresh start, to begin again (again), to give it all another shot
someplace else (again), will adore Miss Portland."
--Peter Orner, author of Peter Brown and Other Stories
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