Parts per Million, Julia Stoops
Parts per Million, Julia Stoops
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Parts per Million
A Novel

Author: Julia Stoops

Narrator: Greg Tremblay, Nicol Zanzarella, Joe Barrett

Unabridged: 12 hr 34 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 04/10/2018

Synopsis

When John Nelson abandoned his government job to join a scrappy band of activists, he didn’t realize trying to save the world would be so hard. His ideals remain strong, but his optimism is wearing thin. His fellow activists―computer hacker Jen Owens and Vietnam vet Irving Fetzer―still think he’s a square. And their radio show can’t compete with the corporate media.Parts per Million, Julia Stoops’s socially conscious, fast-paced debut novel, is set in Portland, Oregon, in 2002. As the trio dives into anti-war protests and investigates fraud at an elite university, Nelson falls in love with an unlikely houseguest, Deirdre, a photographer from Ireland―and a recovering addict. Fetzer recognizes her condition but keeps it secret, setting off a page-turning chain of events that threatens to destroy the activists’ friendship even as they’re trying to hold the world together, one radio show at a time.

About Julia Stoops

Julia Stoops was born in Samoa to New Zealand parents, and grew up in Japan, Australia, and New Zealand. She moved to Washington, DC in her teens, where she received a BFA from the Corcoran College of Art and Design. Back in New Zealand, Julia studied Philosophy and Linguistics at the University of Auckland, where she received a BA. She endured New Zealand’s Rogernomics recession of the early 90s, and finally got her first real break teaching in tertiary level art and design programs. Because of her Corcoran experience, Julia wanted to return to the US. She and her husband chose Portland, Oregon as their immigration destination, and have lived there since 1994. Julia received an MFA in Painting from Portland State University, and taught for thirteen years at the Pacific Northwest College of Art, creating new courses in media studies, hybrid art methodologies, and the history of ideas. Then she moved into her current career as a web designer, and she also has experience in alternative radio news journalism and anti-war activism. Julia received Oregon Arts Commission fellowships for visual arts and literature, and was a resident at the Ucross Foundation in 2016.

About Nicol Zanzarella

Nicol Zanzarella is an Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator and a theater and television actress. She has appeared in productions of Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, The Winter’s Tale, Cousin Bette, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, and many others.

About Joe Barrett

Joe Barrett, an actor and Audie Award and Earphones Award–winning narrator, has appeared both on and off Broadway as well as in hundreds of radio and television commercials.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Susan

The little-known history of West Coast, Left Coast eco-activism in the early Aughts bursts to life in this timely and important book, full of finely drawn characters and outrageous intrigues. Eco-fiction at its finest, Parts Per Million is one of the origin stories of the resistance, and a primer fo......more

Goodreads review by Julie

It's one thing to read historical accounts of Leftist social movements in the United States. It's quite another to be embedded, as a reader, into the day-to-day operations of a small band of committed environmental activists. The story and characters in Parts Per Million are imagined, though vivid a......more

Goodreads review by Kristin

I love this book so much, I want to face it out in my bookcase like they do in stores. There are many reasons why I love it so: It's from Forest Avenue Press It's activist fiction It taught me history I didn't already know It is set in Portland and described so well, I can smell it and feel the air on......more

Goodreads review by Carmel

Parts per Million by Julia Stoops is the story of three political activists living in Portland, Oregon, who have immersed themselves in a culture of activism and fierce resistance. When an outsider suddenly comes to stay the household dynamics change considerably and as the story progresses and we l......more

Goodreads review by Deborah

This was a book club read for me and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was hard to put down and I think I finished it in about 5 days, which is very unusual for me. I live in Portland, Oregon and the story is set in Portland so that had major appeal for me. It took place in the early 2000's and is about 3......more

Quotes

“Parts per Million effortlessly weaves the personal with the political in this relentless page-turner. Part psychological thriller, part hard-boiled noir, the characters are fresh, real, and alive.” Robert Newman, author of The Fountain at the Center of the World

Awards

  • Audible Pick
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