In sixteen apparently simple stories, John Young’s memorable characters ask (or refuse to ask) what shapes us. Education? Talent? Impulse? Family? Money? Need for approval? Most of the stories are set in small-town Indiana, with a handful coming from New England villages. All are sensitively written, careful, and real.
The impulse to cheat (embellish) shows up early in the collection, as an antique dealer teaches himself to craft high-quality fakes. It reaches a fever pitch and crashes in the next tale, when an ambitious minister in an affluent community pays more attention to his neighbor’s wife and pumpkins than to the living he’s inherited. Young’s protagonists range from observant nine-year-olds to hyper-competitive teens, from working class dreamers (and drinkers) to privileged executives defending the compromises they’ve made. A few face public humiliation; a few others die. In two of the strongest stories, young women face painful life-and-death decisions, and the conclusions are uncertain. In most, there’s an ethical dilemma, skillfully and subtly plotted so that we readers come away energized, appreciating ’the oxymorons of life.’
Table of Content
The Antique Deal
A Pumpkin Summer
A Membrook Man
This Boy’s Game
Twice Too Young
An Imperfect Union
The Dog Lover
Enter Debbie De Vore
The Chain Saw Artist
Same as I Got
The Fires of Youth
Wins and Losses
The Thing She Saw
Finding the Words
Fire in the Field
In a Delicate Condition
About the author
When he was eight, John Young told his mother he wanted to be a scientist or a clown. So he went into advertising and figured he got pretty close. He graduated from Indiana University and earned an MFA in creative writing from Emerson College. Now he lives with his wife and two kids in Cincinnati, Ohio. His first novel, When the Coin Is in the Air, was published in 2019.More ebooks from the same author(s) / Editor
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