A Class of Leaders is a wonderful novel. It’s well told, moves briskly, has a moral, and looks back at a time (1969) and place (South Central Los Angeles). A great read! I could see it as a Showtime movie. —Gary Turchin, author of The Silly-Verse Universe
I thoroughly enjoyed A Class of Leaders. The students’ voices, in their speech and written notes, are exceptional. It’s Joseph Sutton’s best. —Gerald Rosen, author of The Carmen Miranda Memorial Flagpole
“I was intrigued with the whole concept of the democratic classroom in A Class of Leaders and how Joseph Sutton brought it to life. I was thoroughly impressed with the way he captured the dialogue and attitudes of the African-American students of the late 1960s. I don’t think any writer, black or white, has ever done it better.” —Bernie Schneider, author of The Glory That Was Theirs
“I couldn’t put A Class of Leaders down. Joseph Sutton’s novel is a captivating read with fascinating insights and interesting subplots.” —Ray Balbes, fine artist
“I was almost in tears after finishing Joseph Sutton’s A Class of Leaders.” —Hal Goldstein, actor
“A Class of Leaders is a great book, a great read. It’s 1969—a time of riots, drugs and the Vietnam war. Because Josh Sampson, a white teacher in an all black high school, isn’t getting anywhere with his students, he decides to let his students teach each other. Soon they are having spirited debates about the war, abortion, the grading system and other important issues of the day. They are also writing about those issues. Plus, they are holding trials and signing petitions. There is only one problem: the principal finds out what’s going on. Sampson continues to forge ahead battling the administration and at times his own students.” —Susan McGregor, Amazon book reviewer
“I love the honesty and authenticity of Joseph Sutton’s voice. The fear of the writer is revealed in his book Write Now!, mirroring the fear of humans who don’t usually say it out loud but who need the writer to say it for them.” —Jo-e Simon, artist and writer
“I thoroughly enjoyed reading Joseph Sutton’s Write Now! Again, like in his Morning Pages, I could identify with so much. In this case it’s his perseverance and his encounters with the whole experience of promoting a book.” —Abby Caplin, holistic doctor
“Joseph Sutton does it again in Write Now! as he chronicles the trials, tribulations and downright humiliations of being a writer. He covers his constant struggle to put words on paper and what it’s like to have a book reading where nobody comes…and then he gets a speeding ticket on his way home. Through it all, he maintains his great sense of humor and a refusal to give up. This is the definitive book for anyone who thinks they could be a writer or should be a writer or who just wants to be entertained.” —Susan McGregor, Amazon book reviewer
“Reading Write Now! is like watching a Polaroid picture develop. You beome part of the process.” —Delia Moon, film producer and writer
“Joseph Sutton lets us into his writer’s world, and into his life, and shows us the way: A daily practice of putting words to page. He makes it seem so simple, this writing business, so available. Anyone can do it…even me. Write Now! is a sage little book that makes me want to write again.” —Gary Turchin, poet
“If you’re a writer or want to be a writer, Write Now! will lead you into the writer’s life–to the life of rejection, questioning your writing abilities, wondering if you’ll ever get published and what to do when no one comes to your book reading. This book is not only the story of the making of a writer, it’s a book that will make you want to write.” —Donald S. Ellis, publisher
“Morning Pages is truly inspiring! In fact, so much so, that I have started to write down my own “recollections.” Joseph Sutton makes his stories so personal—I feel like I’m actually there watching him achieve his successes and manage his failures.” —Ray Balbes, artist
“Joseph Sutton is the master of the personal essay. In a handful of pages, he tells a small tale and ends each with an epiphany. You can read Morning Pages to see someone work through a case of writer’s block. But I would highly recommend it if you want to read some small masterpieces which happen to have been written at the rate of three pages a day.” —Jay Yamada, Amazon reviewer
“Joseph Sutton, God bless him, writes in the grand storyteller tradition of Jean Shepherd and William Saroyan, both of whom would have been happy, I’m sure, to treat Sutton to a steak and a few martinis in exchange for an autographed copy of Morning Pages.” —Barry Gifford, author of Wild at Heart
Bedside bar mitzvah inspires an ‘almost true story’
Aleza Goldsmith
Jewish Bulletin
In a poll of the holiest places on earth, the foot of a bed might not make the list.
Unless, of course, Joseph Sutton were polled—because that’s where he celebrated his bar mitzvah.
As a 13-year-old living in Hollywood, the now 60-year-old San Francisco resident and author actually marked the rite of passage in his parents’ bedroom. His recently published novel, Morning Pages: The Almost True Story of My Life, recounts the experience, and many others, through a loosely autobiographical character named Ben Halaby.
Tackling the Dreaded “Block”
By Jonathan Farrell
The Sunset Beacon
Very few writers have the opportunity to share with readers the creative process involved in writing. This process is sometimes shared among fellow writers, but not often with the public.
San Francisco writer Joseph Sutton’s novel, Morning Pages: The Almost True Story of My Life, provides a rare glimpse into all the thoughts and feelings a writer has in the quest to do what writers do—write!
Yet there is one obstacle to the creative process that most writers know all too well—the demon known as “writer’s block.”
Ivri Nasawi, Sephardic & Middle Eastern Cultures
Syrian-Jewish writer and Los Angeles native Joseph Sutton (b. 1940) has just published his first novel, Morning Pages: The Almost True Story of My Life, a loosely fictionalized version of his past and present life. After a promising high school football career, Sutton won a football scholarship to the University of Oregon. It wasn’t until the late 1960s, while he was working as a teacher in South-Central Los Angeles, that Sutton realized he wanted to become a writer. And where else do aspiring writers go to live the boho life and write fiction? San Francisco. A familiar face on the Bay Area writers scene, these days Joe Sutton writes for a variety of magazines, including Writer’s Digest and Writers’ Journal. He has written many short stories and his first collection, The Immortal Mouth and Other Stories, will be published in 2002 by Creative Arts Book Co., the publisher of Morning Pages.
“Joseph Sutton has an eye–for navel oranges and red rubies, for heroic cats and noble geckoes, for perfect mouths and super-sized bartenders. He has an ear–for festival rhythms and regional accents, bedtime stories and cautionary tales. He has a heart–for the pull of tradition and the call of the road, for bright-eyed Greek beauties and unresponsive ladies of the night, for boys becoming men, and writers scraping by. Most of all, Joseph Sutton has a voice–that emerges strong and true in this remarkable collection of stories.” —Lynn Park, photographer and poet
“Joseph Sutton is an exciting writer. His stories are interesting, vivid, unique. He’s written two pieces about William Saroyan, his mentor, in this collection. He covers a lot of territory in 200 pages (29 stories altogether), from growing up in Hollywood to relationships to travel to sports to old age. This book is a must read.” —Gary Turchin, poet
“Joseph Sutton loads all the bases with such classic American themes as sports, travel on the road, and rollercoaster relationships… [and] brings these tales home with a literary grand slam in the title story that would have elicited a growl of approval from his celebrated role model, William Saroyan, and now evokes a howl of delight from us — the noisy fans in the bleachers.” —Ramon Sender Barayon, author of A Death in Zamora and A Planetary Sojourn
“Imagine taking your seat for a long flight with your favorite book. But the guy sitting next to you starts telling a story. A minute later, you’ve closed the book. You ask to hear more. In an hour, you’ve laughed, sighed, gasped, held back a tear, then said to hell with it and let it fall. You don’t want this flight to ever end. Joe Sutton is the guy talking, and he’s also your pilot.” —Joe Quirk, author of The Ultimate Rush and Exult
Friday November 7, 2003
by Jay Schwartz
Staff Writer
It’s not every day that someone goes from contemplating God to feeling like an average Joe in the same breath. But this makes perfect sense if you happen to be Joseph Sutton, who has a gift for bringing the cosmic down to a level that you can relate to and for elevating the ordinary to a higher plane.
When you think of Los Angeles, what comes to mind? Most people see a kaleidoscopic image of vibrant glamour, broken dreams, infinite variety, and cheap thrills. Having grown up in Hollywood, Joseph Sutton brings his expertise in the grind and shine of thrill seeking and small wonders from Los Angeles to the context of all life in The Immortal Mouth, his first collection of short stories.