It’s 2003, Bryan Meigs is twenty-six years old, and his life has stalled out in Memphis, Tennessee. He is single, tormented by his OCD, and stuck in a crappy job. During a chance encounter at work, Bryan meets Adam, who gives him his phone number. Bryan ignores his instincts, calls the number, and asks Adam out on a date. Although he is hoping for an escape from the rut of lonely hangovers, Bryan’s morning-after arrives with bloody sheets, a black eye, no memory of last night, and no signs of a used condom.
Wherever Bryan turns for help, his few friends either downplay his concerns or question his version of events. These and other betrayals drive him to track Adam down and make him admit what he did. During his search, Bryan will navigate parts of Memphis that most tourists never see—a world of gay clubs, late-night dives, and cruising spots—all set during a time when homophobia and the fear of contracting HIV were more rampant.
Throughout And the Train Kept Moving, Bryan will reckon with brutal facts about his present and his past. These revelations will ultimately force him to choose which truths he can live with and those he can’t.
Early Praise for And the Train Kept Moving
“Michael Kiggins’ impressive first novel, And the Train Kept Moving, begins like a modern noir. Something bad has happened in the webby darkness of Memphis and the first person narration opens the story: hot, immediate, intimate and spiky. The book then shifts gears, moves into the past, and what follows is a dodgy but passionate love story, which is both moving and unsettling. Kiggins’ Memphis is beautifully drawn and his supple prose is up to all the emotions he puts his full-blooded characters through. The book is a realistic paean to the city in all its funky beauty, and all its raw danger and poverty. All in all, it’s a great read, tough-minded and heartfelt and brave. Kiggins stands at the threshold of a bigtime literary career.”
Corey Mesler, author of Memphis Movie,
and The World is Neither Stacked For Nor Against You: Selected Short Stories
“From the first page, Kiggins establishes a kinetic tension between doubt and truth, danger and arousal, what’s seen and hidden, that provokes us to turn another page with an irresistable impulse, like the myriad irresistable impulses Kiggins brings to light in the careful, detailed language and observations of his troubled, obsessive-compulsive narrator. And what a compelling, refreshing narrator Bryan is —with his fixation on a singular thought, his forgivable fears and weaknesses, his seductive vulnerability—wrought from the mind of a brave, exacting debut novelist.”
Patrick Earl Ryan,
author of the Flannery O’Connor Award-winning collection If We Were Electric
“A dark and seedy book that left me feeling the need for a shower and an AA meeting. And the Train Kept Moving is a meandering revenge tale mixed with a heart wrenching family drama with surprising insight on the HIV/AIDS epidemic that preceded events in the book. An intriguing read.”
Jordan King, author of White Oaks
“A slow-burn study in compulsion and obsession whose climax will unsettle you for days.”
Anthony Oliveira, author of the forthcoming novel Dayspring.
Interviews & Reviews
This review by Kevin Brown was originally published online in Chapter 16 and later republished in the Sunday books section of Memphis’s The Commercial Appeal.
This is an in-depth interview with Anthony Oliveira on his podcast The Devil’s Party. And to quote him: “Content warning: this novel and this conversation treats several heavy subjects, including suicidal ideation, HIV stigma and serophobia, OCD and germophobia, sexual assault and murder.“
An interview with The Memphis Flyer.
A conversation with Brent Meredith on Out and About Today.
20 Questions with Lisa Diane Kastner, founder and CEO of Running Wild Press
Where to Buy My Novel
The Independent Publishers Group
Michael Kiggins 