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Drowning in Gruelby George Singleton
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:Acclaimed short-story master George Singleton follows the lives and schemes of the citizens of fictitious Gruel, South Carolina, in search of glory, seclusion, money, revenge, and a meaningful existence. In these nineteen tales, young Gruelites learn lessons when confronted with neighbors who might not be as blind as they appear, dermatologists intent on eradicating birthmarks, and fathers prone to driving on half-inflated tires in order to flirt with cashiers. Meanwhile, the town's older citizens try to make sense out of dogs that heal wounds, lawn-mowing dead men, wives who don't appreciate gas masks for Valentine's Day, and children who mix their mother's ashes with housepaint. Hilarious and tragic, George Singleton's unforgettable characters try to overcome their limitations as best they can. Review:"Singleton returns to the small South Carolina town where he set his acclaimed first novel, Novel, for this delightfully obsessive collection of stories, which reads like a group celebration of the excess and eccentricities found in the tiny Southern hamlet of Gruel. The only common element: a shared preoccupation with staying put in, getting out of, coming home to and passing through Gruel. From the owner of Roughhouse Billiards, who sells hot dogs, to the proprietor of the army-navy surplus store, who hawks gas masks as Valentine's Day gifts, the citizens of Gruel form a backdrop against which the more transient characters — the women's studies major who visits to compete in the town's car decorating contest; the freelance indexer fired for listing Republicans under 'Idiotic behavior' — stand out in sharper relief for their quirky loneliness and creative longings. Singleton is so careful to include references to Southern literary life and the short story form that some exchanges feel rigged, but in the book's quiet moments, his people hit a tragicomic zenith. (June)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) Review:PRAISE FOR NOVEL "[The] unchallenged king of the comic Southern short story." -THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION "Thank God for George Singleton, who makes us laugh and makes us think."-THE TIMES-PICAYUNE (New Orleans) Synopsis:An acclaimed short-story master follows the lives and schemes of the citizens of fictitious Gruel, South Carolina, in search of glory, seclusion, money, revenge, and a meaningful existence in these 19 tales.
About the AuthorGEORGE SINGLETON lives in Pickens County, South Carolina, with ceramicist Glenda Guion and their mixture of strays. More than a hundred of his stories have been published nationally in magazines and anthologies. He teaches writing at the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities. Table of ContentsContents
Runt Migration over Gruel
Christmas in Gruel Soldiers in Gruel Assurance
The Novels of Raymond Carver
Bluffs
The Opposite of Zero Polish Snipers
Lickers
Scotch and Dr Pepper
Shirts Against Skins
Soles in Gruel Recovery
Slow Drink What Attracts Us to Gruel
What If We Leave?
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