Comfort Food: A Novel

Winner of the 2006 Independent Publisher Book Award

Ashenhurst focused on fleshing out his characters...rich in detail...the writing style flows smoothly. North Kitsap Herald, WA

The visual details are so true to life. The Bellingham Herald, WA

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 debut novel Comfort Food.

Stan Gillman-Reinhart is a graduate student at a small university in Bellingham, Washington in 1993. Through his experiences and frustrations we meet Delany Richardson, a budding writer and old friend of Stan; John Snyder, a local musician; Brian Fetzler, Stan's stoner roommate; Dave Grabbing, a mountaineer and Delaney's ex-boyfriend; and Bridgette Jonsen, a former heroin addict and Dave's current girlfriend.

Successive sections of the novel focus on John's trip through Eastern Europe, Delany's summer in Alaska, Brian's life after college, Bridgette's road trip through Utah, 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, 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.

In his inventive new novel Noah Ashenhurst creates a cast of characters and individuals who are frustrated, isolated, enamored, addicted, connected, and finally redeemed.

Noah Ashenhurst teaches English and creative writing in rural Washington and received his B.A. from Western Washington University. He grew up in Colorado, worked in a salmon cannery in Alaska, has traveled to Budapest and Prague, and remodeled houses in Boulder. This is his first novel.