Nick Taylor - author of "The Disagreement"

Second graders await the visit of the Debut Author for his novel “The Disagreement.” He would be visiting them in connection to their ongoing unit of Inquiry “Stories”.


Nick Taylor's first novel is a "hum-dinger". THE DISAGREEMENT is a historical novel of the Civil War.

The novel has no descriptions or fighting, but plenty of the aftermath of battles. John Alan Muro, the narrator, is a medical student at the University of Virginia (1861-1865).

Muro and classmates are pressed into service at the Charlottesville General Hospital, where "Dr." Muro saves the life of a northern officer. Muro also meets Miss Lorrie Wigfal, who becomes Mrs. Muro.

The end of the war finds Muro planning to flee his life in Virginia to join the saved Union officer's medical practice.

The epilogue is outstanding and a great ending to a wonder first novel.

About the author

“...Here is a story about our soul-destroying fratricidal war that uses the narrowest of prisms to offer a wider vision. A genuine accomplishment.”
   --Beverly Swerling

Nick Taylor's debut novel, The Disagreement, was published by Simon & Schuster in 2008. He has received fellowships from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the William R. Kenan, Jr., Trust for Historic Preservation and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.

A graduate of the MFA program at the University of Virginia, he is Assistant Professor of English and Comparative Literature at San Jose State University and lives in the Bay Area.