Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, United States
In 1979 Michael Zadoorian received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Wayne State University and a Master of Arts degree in 1994.
Career
Gallery of Michael Zadoorian
Michael Zadoorian
Gallery of Michael Zadoorian
Michael Zadoorian
Gallery of Michael Zadoorian
Michael Zadoorian
Gallery of Michael Zadoorian
Michael Zadoorian
Gallery of Michael Zadoorian
Gallery of Michael Zadoorian
Members of the Armenian Center at Columbia University’s Board of Directors with the 2014 Anahid Literary Award recipients. Photo by Dr. Robert V. Kinoian
Gallery of Michael Zadoorian
Past winners, authors Peter Balakian and Nancy Kricorian, with the 2014 Anahid Literary Award recipients. (L-R) Peter Balakian, Patricia Sarrafian Ward, Arthur Nersesian, Nancy Kricorian, Michael Zadoorian, and Aris Janigian. Photo by Dr. Robert V. Kinoian
Members of the Armenian Center at Columbia University’s Board of Directors with the 2014 Anahid Literary Award recipients. Photo by Dr. Robert V. Kinoian
Past winners, authors Peter Balakian and Nancy Kricorian, with the 2014 Anahid Literary Award recipients. (L-R) Peter Balakian, Patricia Sarrafian Ward, Arthur Nersesian, Nancy Kricorian, Michael Zadoorian, and Aris Janigian. Photo by Dr. Robert V. Kinoian
(Richard sees treasure everywhere. In that old eight-track...)
Richard sees treasure everywhere. In that old eight-track quadraphonic stereo, that pink granite bowling ball, or a Niagara Falls napkin holder. While most people scramble for the newest and the best, Richard searches for the odd and obsolete - and sells it at his second-hand shop on the edge of Detroit. Why does he do it? For Richard, junk is a way of life, a calling, and a passion. Until his comfortable second-hand life gets the first-hand jolt. Richard's mother has died and left behind a valuable house full of packed-away junk - including some old photos that will change everything Richard thought about his parents. And then there's the hip, thrift-attired woman who comes into his store with more than junk on her mind...
(The Robinas have shared a wonderful life for more than si...)
The Robinas have shared a wonderful life for more than sixty years. Now in their eighties, Ella suffers from cancer and John has Alzheimer's. Yearning for one last adventure, the self-proclaimed "down-on-their-luck geezers" kidnap themselves from the adult children and doctors who seem to run their lives and steal away from their home in suburban Detroit on a forbidden vacation of rediscovery. With Ella as his vigilant copilot, John steers their '78 Leisure Seeker RV along the forgotten roads of Route 66 toward Disneyland in search of a past they're having a damned hard time remembering. Yet Ella is determined to prove that, when it comes to life, you can go back for seconds - even when everyone says you can't.
(In The Lost Tiki Palaces of Detroit Michael Zadoorian fol...)
In The Lost Tiki Palaces of Detroit Michael Zadoorian follows characters coming to terms with the past and the present in a broken city. Rusty, ornery, and down at the heels, Zadoorian’s characters have made the wrong choices, been worn down by bad news, or survived traumatic events, but like the city they live in, they are determined not to let tragedy and rotten luck define them. Rich with detail and brimming with feeling, Zadoorian’s deceptively simple stories lead readers into the inner lives of those making the best of their flawed surroundings and their own imperfections.
(Set in early 1970s Detroit, a divided city still reeling ...)
Set in early 1970s Detroit, a divided city still reeling from its violent race riot of 1967, Beautiful Music is the story of one young man's transformation through music. Danny Yzemski is a husky, pop radio–loving loner balancing a dysfunctional homelife with the sudden harsh realities of freshman year at a high school marked by racial turbulence. But after tragedy strikes the family, Danny's mother becomes increasingly erratic and angry about the seismic cultural shifts unfolding in her city and the world. As she tries to hold it together with the help of Librium, highballs, and breakfast cereal, Danny finds his own reason to carry on: rock and roll. In particular, the drum and guitar-heavy songs of local legends like the MC5 and Iggy Pop. In the vein of Nick Hornby and Tobias Wolff, yet with a style very much Zadoorian's own, Beautiful Music is a touching story about the power of music and its ability to save one's soul.
Michael Zadoorian has worked as a copywriter, journalist, voiceover talent, shipping room clerk, and plant guard for Chrysler. He is the author of three novels, Beautiful Music, The Leisure Seeker and Second Hand, and a story collection, The Lost Tiki Palaces of Detroit. A new novel, The Narcissism of Small Differences is forthcoming in 2020.
His work has appeared in The Literary Review, Beloit Fiction Journal, American Short Fiction, Wisconsin Review, Witness, Great Lakes Review, North American Review, Huffington Post and the anthologies Bob Seger’s House, Looping Detroit, On The Clock, and Detroit Noir.