ESU Backup Insider

A trip to the Houston Zoo over 14 years ago led Bill Broun to publish his first novel. “Night of the Animals,” which will be on sale beginning July 5, follows a homeless man named Cuthbert Handley who, over the course of the night, works to release the animals of the London Zoo.

“The first spark for a tale about a mentally ill old man’s interaction with zoo animals came from a very close friendship with a schizophrenic man whom I once spotted ‘talking’ to a troop of howler monkeys during our visit to the Houston Zoo,” Broun said.

After over a decade of writing and research, Broun’s story is set to hit the shelves this summer. Landing on both the Wall Street Journal’s anticipated books list and the Huffington Post’s summer reading list, the East Stroudsburg University associate professor of English is eager to share his novel with readers.

“It feels super exciting and I am really looking forward to the next step,” he said.

“Night of the Animals” explores the boundaries of reality, the ghosts of love and trauma, and the power of redemption, while vividly capturing the emotional, physical, and spiritual bonds between humans and animals.

Broun admits that writing the novel was challenging at times. Teaching full time at the university, he spent most of his vacations and holiday breaks with his fingers on his keyboard in front of the computer screen.

“I took it very seriously and learned that if you work really hard and focus, you can accomplish just about anything,” he said.

Broun is often inspired by the students in his classes.

“When you see students juggling full-time jobs while pursuing a degree, it’s hard to feel sorry for yourself when they are doing so much work,” he said.

Before his teaching career at ESU, Broun worked as a journalist in both the United Sates and the United Kingdom. In 2002, he was appointed a resident fellow at Yale University.
Broun is grateful to be spending his life with two of his greatest passions: writing and teaching.

“I’ve been encouraged at ESU through this whole process,” he said. “The university is incredibly supportive of me being a writer and a very busy teacher.”

To learn more about the book visit http://billbroun.com. The book is available to be preordered in print, Kindle, or audio book at all booksellers, including the university bookstore. It has been critically acclaimed by the four pre-publication journals. It was called a “tour de force,” by Library Journal. It is an Ecco Books/HarperCollins release.