Discontents: The Disappearance of a Young Radical by James Wallace Birch

James Wallace Birch

    

James Wallace Birch is an award-winning author of short fiction. He has published numerous articles in newspapers, journals and online publications. Discontents: The Disappearance of a Young Radical is his debut full-length book.

James is from Northern Virginia, just outside the U.S. capital. James is best known for the cult classic novel, Discontents: The Disappearance of a Young Radical. The book is based on his experiences surrounding the underground activist movement in Washington, DC in the late 2000s. His writing has been described as smart, insightful and poetically bittersweet.

Discontents is about the disappearance of James's old high school friend, Emory Walden, a political agitator and notorious graffiti artist who became a counter-culture icon and was hunted by the U.S. Government. In the summer of 2011, James received a letter from Emory asking him to publish Emory's account of what happened. The rest is history.

James enjoys coffee, late 90s and early 2000s ska and punk, and contemporary and twentieth century fiction. His favorite book is: Coming up for Air by George Orwell.