Synopses & Reviews
This is a terrific story, beautifully written, and completely enthralling.”
Dorothy AllisonI admire the sentences, the clarity of mind, and characters who catch and keep our attention. Bob Dylan sings about a journey all the way from New Orleans to Jerusalem
as way of apotheizing, scrutinizing, and recognizing the world we live in. Laura Scott is on the way.”Alan Cheuse
What if your most fervent wish could come true, and all you had to do was
die first. Recovering from a bitter divorce, middle-aged Victor Swaim wants nothing more than to live a carefree, drunken existence in New Orleans, making capes and corsets, and lusting for Pebbles, the girl who lives across the street.
But, after a series of deathbed wishes come trueincluding the curing of cancer, the elimination of cats, the return of Elvis (1967 vintage), the clouds turning orange, mothers growing third eyes and cups of coffee becoming bottomlessthe hysteria that grows around Death Wishing” forces Victor into action. Along with his entrepreneurial son Val and his libertine friend Martine, Victor must battle the apocalyptics who have seduced Pebbles away from her true vocation of singing the blues (very badly) while at the same time confronting his mortal identity: just what would he wish for the world without him in it?
Synopsis
In post-Katrina New Orleans, dying wishes can come true--with often unexpected results.
Synopsis
"This is a terrific story, beautifully written, and completely enthralling."—Dorothy Allison
In post-Katrina New Orleans, dying wishes can cure cancer, eliminate cats, bring back Elvis (1968 vintage), and turn the clouds orange. Divorced and disgraced up north, Victor hopes to live a carefree, drunken existence in the French Quarter, making capes and corsets and lusting for the girl who lives across the street—until the hysteria surrounding "death wishing" changes his world in ways he never imagined.
Laura Ellen Scott teaches fiction writing at George Mason University. Her work has been selected for The Wigleaf Top Fifty of 2009 and Barrelhouse magazine's "Futures" issue. She has twice been nominated for Dzanc's Best of the Web 2010 anthology.
About the Author
Laura Ellen Scott teaches fiction writing at George Mason University, where she is the Department's Academic Coordinator. Her work has been selected for The Wigleaf Top Fifty of 2009 and Barrelhouse magazine's Futures issue. She has twice been nominated for Dzanc's Best of the Web 2010 anthology.