Synopses & Reviews
These eleven arresting, comic, and moving stories by acclaimed writer Michael Parker testify to the driving force of love, the lengths to which well go to claim it and pursue it, the delusions well float to keep it going, the torment that goes part and parcel with it. And despite all of the above, the absolute necessity of it, no matter its consequences.
Whether its a college student undone by the boy who leaves her, or the boyfriend intent on leveling old scores from high school for his lover, or the husband who discovers—in the grocery store—the woman he should have been with all along, every character, no matter how off track, wants to believe in debt and credit and payback and making the messy world—and the messy world of love—turn out neatly.
Review
“What makes Mr. Parker so satisfying a writer: his bone-deep affection for his characters; his love of clear, crisp, pungent language; . . . his confidence in the possibility of redemption.” — The New York Times Book Review New York Times Book Review
Review
“Only Michael Parker can tell a story you don’t want to quit about folks you don’t want to leave. . . . He has us all in mind—all of us who are needy and scared and running fast from the past, all of us who believe in magic and miracle, all of us beleaguered and bewitched by love.” —Lee K. Abbott
Review
“In prose that is languid and mysterious . . . Parker writes descriptions as precise as line engravings, more revealing than recordings or photographs.” —The Washington Post
Synopsis
In these funny, heartbreaking, and frighteningly perceptive stories, Michael Parker shows us, for better or worse, the mechanics of the male mind. The men here—no matter how culpable, deceptive, idealistic, dangerous, flirtatious, gullible, undecided, obsessed, callous, or illogically logical—trust in the power of love and in the women who reel them in or do their best to leave them behind.
Synopsis
In these funny, heartbreaking, and frighteningly perceptive stories, Michael Parker shows us, for better or worse, the mechanics of the male mind. The men here— no matter how culpable, deceptive, idealistic, dangerous, flirtatious, gullible, undecided, obsessed, callous, or illogically logical— trust in the power of love and in the women who reel them in or do their best to leave them behind.
About the Author
Michael Parker is the author of seven works of fiction, most recently the critically acclaimed novel The Watery Part of the World. His work has been published in the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Oxford American, and many other magazines. He is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship, an O. Henry Award, a Pushcart Prize, and three lifetime achievement awards, including the North Carolina Award for Literature. He teaches in the MFA writing program at UNC–Greensboro and lives in North Carolina and Texas.