(Bristol, NH April 24, 2020) ‘The Fall of Polite’ was the moment when social niceties were cast aside and laws no longer needed to be followed. It was the moment when commerce and discourse stopped, when violence and hardship became standard, and when seeing another person meant to kill or be killed. The end of the world snuck up on everybody…them more than most.
Set in a freshly lawless New England in the dead of winter, ‘The Fall of Polite’ follows three disparate individuals – a bloodied and barefoot 17-year-old trying to reach her final living relative, a once kind-hearted lumberjack now consumed with a fury that can only be quelled through acts of violence, and a two-time college-dropout, trying to do an act of kindness in a chaotic world – forced to adapt and survive in the face of a devolving society.
In his debut novel ‘The Fall of Polite’, Sam Kench offers a realistic look at a contemporary end of the world situation in a similar vein to works like Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’ or Walter M. Miller Jr.’s ‘A Canticle for Leibowitz’. Through layered social commentary, Kench’s novel explores the extreme political divide as well as the racial, gender, and financial tensions afflicting the modern-day United States while setting the story in small-town New Hampshire.
Sam Kench is a 23-year-old writer and independent filmmaker. His screenplays and short films have placed in and been awarded by festivals and competitions around the world including The NewYork Screenplay Contest, ScreenCraft, Oaxaca International Film Festival, The Atlanta Film Festival, The International Screenwriting Awards, and The American Gem Literary Festival. He was also named one of the top defenders of free speech by the National Coalition Against Censorship. He grew up in New England and spent years exploring many of the locations that found their way into the novel.
When asked why he chose to tell this story, Kench said, “I haven’t seen a lot of apocalyptic stories tackle the actual falling of society. Most post-apocalyptic stories skip past the actual crumbling of society and jump into the future, and I think the early stage of the apocalypse is where some of the most interesting stuff can be found. So I wanted to write a story that starts right at the early stages of the apocalypse and progresses forward in a grounded manner.”
‘The Fall of Polite’ is a bleak cautionary tale for where the modern world could be headed. Kench’s screenwriting talents lend to action scenes that are fast-paced and brutally destructive. As a film festival judge commented “[Kench’s] ability to progress the story through a mixture of conceptually heady dialogue and violent exposition defines his writing style.” The novel is an unsettling look at the best and the worst of human nature in a post-apocalyptic world.
‘The Fall of Polite’ comes out on Amazon.com in paperback and on Kindle on April 30, 2020. Visit www.TheFallofPolite.com for ordering information, book excerpts, and more. Follow @TheFallofPolite on Facebook and Sam Kench on Youtube at youtube.com/brickwallpictures and Instagram @Brickwall_Pictures.
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