Review Links
Main Links
The Buffalo Connection: Quirky novels where Buffalo makes a cameo appearance
Millard Fillmore, Mon Amour
John Blumenthal-
The narrator, a nerdy neurotic, finds love while he works on an epic biography of Buffalo's Millard Fillmore.
Death of Riley
Rhys BowenMolly Murphy, a young Irish immigrant and aspiring detective in early 20th century New York City, pursues the case of her reluctant , murdered mentor, Private Investigator Paddy Riley. Eventually, the trail leads to the Pan American Exposition in Buffalo.
An Unfortunate Woman
Richard BrautiganThe depressed narrator in this semi-autobiographical novel recounts six months of wandering around the country, including a stop in Buffalo.
- Escape from Sonora
Will Bryant -
The only novel we know of that centers on a made-in-Buffalo product, a 1907 Thomas Flyer automobile, which is driven by a gang on the run from a murder in Arizona in 1916.
The Great American Novel
Clyde Brion DavisHomer Zigler is a 23-year old cub reporter at a Buffalo newspaper who sets out to write the Great American Novel but somehow never does.
- The Honorable Peter Stirling and What People Thought of Him
Paul Leicester Ford A thinly disguised fictionalization of Grover Cleveland's illegitimate son with Maria Halpin and Cleveland's later marriage to Frances Folsom, the daughter of Oscar Folsom, the man who may have been the real father. Originally published in 1894.
- The Programmer
Bruce Jackson Possibly the first-ever computer crime novel, with scenes at the Ellicott Square Building, the W. Ferry lift bridge, and the Erie Canal.
- The Spirit Cabinet
Paul Quarrington Two magicians acquire the Davenport Spirit Cabinet, which belonged to brothers Ira and William Davenport of Buffalo who held seances during the 19th century. The Davenports are actual historical figures who employed a cabinet in their performances.
- The Standing Fast
Harvey Swados A fictionalized memoir about life in the Communist Party in Buffalo from the 1930s to the 1960s.