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Cyan Magenta Yellow Black

$25.95

ISBN: 9781625571960
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Categories Fiction, Novels, The Big Moose Prize

Cyan Magenta Yellow Black

Kevin Fenton

Publication Date: September 23, 2025

Description

Winner of the 2024 Big Moose Prize

Cyan Magenta Yellow Black lovingly summons a time and place—Minneapolis Saint Paul in December of 1993, just before the internet changed everything. It’s a place where friendships form in group therapy sessions and blossom in coffee shops. And it’s a place where a handful of people think about kerning, color palettes, and headlines with the passion of artisans. Duane Einwald is one of those people—in his early thirties, he already has his own agency. And he’s about to be married to the woman he loves. But when his idealism sharpens into something far more toxic, his fiancée breaks off their engagement, and his partners force him out. While he’s on the adult version of a time out, he meets two new friends—Emily and Porter—who are fleeing much deeper hurts. What unfolds is a testament to the power of friendship—and a story of how seemingly small acts of kindness and connection can transform us. In his first two books, Kevin Fenton explored the stories and subtleties of Minnesota life. Cyan Magenta Yellow Black deepens that exploration and expands that world.

Praise

It’s a rare book that summons both tears and effortless laughter on the same page, let alone in the same paragraph, but that’s exactly what Kevin Fenton achieves in his beautiful and brilliant new novel Cyan Magenta Yellow Black. I love this book unreservedly and emphatically. It’s one of the best novels I’ve read in years. Truly.
–Christine Sneed

We’re all just skittering on the brink of an icy Minneapolis sidewalk. This is a perfect story of being less than perfect.
–Travis Olson

Cyan Magenta Yellow Black begins in darkness and distrust–a kind of basement of the soul where many of us have spent some time–and it progresses toward the light of community and generosity. It is also a novel about visual and personal styles: what they convey and how they are deployed. There is no darkness without the counterpointed light that defines it and that shines down on our imperfections. This is a beautiful book–smart, tenderhearted, and wonderfully written.
–Charles Baxter

About the Author

© Cory Docken

Kevin Fenton

Kevin Fenton is the author of Merit Badges, which won the AWP Prize for the Novel and the Friends of the American Writers Award, and Leaving Rollingstone, which Patricia Hampl called "the most important memoir to come out of the Midwest (or anywhere) in years." He works as an advertising writer and creative director; in that capacity, he’s published essays in the design quarterlies Émigré and Eye (London), the anthology Looking Closer 2: Critical Writing On Graphic Design, and the UX design blog Boxes and Arrows. He got a slightly better education than he deserved at Beloit College, the University of Minnesota Law School, and the University of Minnesota MFA program. He lives in St Paul with his wife Ellen and his greyhound Evie.

Visit Author Page

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