From the author of Buffalo Lockjaw comes a mordantly humorous collection of taut, off-the-wall, and heartbreaking short stories. A young girl aspiring to be a ventriloquist using a burnt log as a dummy; Franz Kafka and Sartre cruising a seedy bar, trying to pick up chicks; a lighthearted retired couple stages and executes their own funeral; a son lovingly prepares and brings corn chowder to his parents, whom he keeps in a cage in his backyard. This collection-peppered with moments of violence and tenderness-touches on political satire, social disillusionment, and the joy and perversity of human love.
In the tradition of Etgar Keret, Greg Ames' prose style ties together the absurd hilarity and deep anguish of the situations his characters find themselves in. These wildly inventive stories will appeal to readers who thirst for a unique, deeply humane voice.
"In his acclaimed debut novel, Buffalo Lockjaw, Ames explored the tension surrounding assisted suicide with droll irreverence. With the same wickedly absurd lens, his first story collection finds humanity in the darkest and most unexpected places. His is a world filled with precocious but deluded youth; passionate but aimless, sometimes scheming lovers; historical figures misplaced in time; and in
Booklist
"Darkly funny stories [that cover] the absurdities of modern life--and death."
