Darryl Ponicsnis the author of fourteen novels, including The Last Detail and its sequel, Last Flag Flying, both made into major motion pictures. He is also an award-winning screenwriter for film and television. Born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania, he taught high school after attending Muhlenberg College and earning an MA at Cornell University. He served in the US Navy from 1962 to 1965, then did social work in the Watts area of Los Angeles and taught high school before the success of his debut novel,The Last Detail, allowed him to become a full-time writer. He resides in Palm Springs and Sonoma, California.
“A parable for our times, full of absurdist humor."—Joseph
Wambaugh
“Darryl Ponicsán explores the deepest mysteries of all with this
engrossing novel, an often funny, sometimes sad, but always magical
investigation of culture, art, and, most of all, life. Ponicsan has
somehow turned his observations into a what-happens-next page
turner.”—Michael Connelly, author of The Night Fire
“A metaphysical mystery tour twisting through cultural time zones
and exploring the depths of the heart with surprising revelation,
uniquely textured by balanced wit and hard-earned wisdom.”—Thomas
Sanchez, author of Mile Zero and Rabbit Boss
"This is small town satire at its best. An oblivious wealthy
newcomer gets trapped into a battle over the sound of leaf blowers
unaware that the real battle is over his soul. A fast-paced, funny,
and satisfying read where no one gets off easily.”—Ada Limón,
author of The Carrying, winner of the National Book Critics Circle
Award
“The author of Last Flag Flying puts the hero of his latest novel
in an odd predicament. . . . Literature lovers will appreciate the
references to Mary Shelley and her circle, the original eternal
sojourners.”—Booklist
Praise for Last Flag Flying:
“Darryl has once again captured the camaraderie and complexity of
male bonding, as he did so brilliantly in The Last Detail. Three
familiar characters, now some thirty years later, with a dubious
history and an undesirable task ahead of them are what dominate the
fascinating and satisfying story in Last Flag Flying.”—Bryan
Cranston
"Ponicsán delivers an irreverent, acerbic, but nonetheless poignant
look at the true nature of loyalty. Recommend both novels and the
movie."—Booklist
Praise for The Last Detail:
“Remarkably good… The writing is superb, the pace headlong, the
irony tempered with a curious gentleness.”—Cosmopolitan
“A salty, bawdy, hilarious, and very touching story.”–Variety
“The first underground triumph of the ‘70s.”–San Francisco
Sun-Reporter
“One of the ten best novels of the year.”–Philadelphia Inquirer
“Honest, heart-wrenching.”–The New York Times
“One of the really excellent novels we will draw this year, and
Ponicsán… proves himself not only a master but a model of
dialogue.”–San Francisco Sunday Examiner and Chronicle
“A lean, funny, bitter book.”–Boston Globe
“[A] gem of a first novel… fast-paced… [The] dialogue often is
hilarious..”–Fort Worth Star
“An accomplished writer with a sure storyteller’s touch.”–St. Louis
Post Dispatch
“Will make any serviceman say: ‘Sure, that’s the way it
was.’”–Newsday
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