Navigating constantly changing social and familial relationships, the characters in M. Jay Smith's stories strive to hold everything together and stay true to their convictions in the process.
Cantaloupe! brings us nine juicy stories about trying (and failing) to do the right thing – about yearning to stay true to yourself in a culture that demands compromise. With razor-sharp prose and a bit of slapstick humour, M. Jay Smith contemplates how identities smudge into each other, how they shout and push and wither and explode under pressure. These stories poke at the complexity of Indigeneity, gender, disability, and class. Childhood experiences exert a jagged and haunting influence on motherhood. The climate is collapsing. No matter what, it seems one's best intentions go a little bit awry. "M. Jay Smith writes with rare honesty about ordinary people, their predilections and prejudices, and the choices and sacrifices they have to make." - Peter Midgley, author of Let Us Not Think of Them As Barbarians "Feral suburban mothers, depressing elite athletes, a libertarian would-be politician, an electric drag king, disappointing climate science professors, a griefless widower, a hopeful artisanal-dog-collar entrepreneur-the range of characters in Cantaloupe! is as impressive as its revelatory scope. M. Jay Smith's wry stories surprise at every turn to wondrously reveal the anguish and exhilaration running through our faltering, fluttering human hearts." - Mikka Jacobsen, author of Good Victory Contents!
The Two Lolas - 1 An Antelope with a Bad Attitude - 39 Baby Brain in a Vat - 55 A Guy Named Guy - 75 Charlie in Canmore - 97 The Fighting Robots League - 117 Oh Beautiful World! - 133 Miette is for Optimists - 169 Modern Times - 189
