Welding With Children

Tim Gautreaux returns to the form that won him his first fans, with tales of family, sin, and redemption: from a man who realizes his grandchildren are growing up without any sense of right or wrong, and he's to blame; to a camera repairman who uncovers a young woman's secret in the undeveloped film she brings him; to a one-armed hitch-hiker who changes the life of the man who gives her a ride.

Each one a small miracle of storytelling and compassion, these stories are a joyous confirmation of Tim Gautreaux's rare and generous talent.

Tim Gautreaux's work has appeared in Harpers, The Atlantic Monthly, GQ, Story, and three recent editions of The Best American Short Stories. His novel The Next Step in the Dance won the 1999 SEBA Book Award. He is a writer in residence at Southeastern Louisiana University. He lives in Hammond, Louisiana.

In his second story collection, Tim Gautreaux offers tales of family, sin, and redemption: from a man who realizes his grandchildren are growing up without any sense of right or wrongand he's to blame; to a camera repairman who uncovers a young woman's secret in the undeveloped film she brings him; to a one-armed hitchhiker who changes the life of the man who gives her a ride.

"Both hilarious and honest . . . Gautreaux applies love and compassion, knowledge and ingenuity to create something superb."The Seattle Times

"Startling and redemptive . . . These stories suggest . . . that to be alive means being open to grief and accident, chance and wonder."The Chicago Tribune

"Move Garrison Keilor's Lake Wobegon stories to Louisiana, add heat and Tabasco, and the result would be Welding With Children."The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Gautreaux has perfect pitch . . . it's his fiction's coarse incongruitiesepitomized by the book's titlethat prove the limitless possibilities of limited geography."The New York Times Book Review

"Finely balanced, sweet, and gritty."The San Francisco Chronicle

"A pleasure from start to finish."The Cleveland Plain-Dealer

"Startling and redemptive . . . These stories suggest . . . that to be alive means being open to grief and accident, chance and wonder."—The Chicago Tribune

"Move Garrison Keilor's Lake Wobegon stories to Louisiana, add heat and Tabasco, and the result would be Welding With Children."—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

"Gautreaux has perfect pitch . . . it's his fiction's coarse incongruities—epitomized by the book's title—that prove the limitless possibilities of limited geography."—The New York Times Book Review

"Finely balanced, sweet and gritty."—The San Francisco Chronicle

"A pleasure from start to finish."—The Cleveland Plain-Dealer

Tim Gautreaux returns to the form that won him his first fans, with tales of family, sin, and redemption: from a man who realizes his grandchildren are growing up without any sense of right or wrong, and he's to blame; to a camera repairman who uncovers a young woman's secret in the undeveloped film she brings him; to a one-armed hitch-hiker who changes the life of the man who gives her a ride.

Each one a small miracle of storytelling and compassion, these stories are a joyous confirmation of Tim Gautreaux's rare and generous talent.