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."
Sprache
Verlagsgruppe
Produkt-Hinweis
Dateigröße
ISBN-13
978-1-952232-58-9 (9781952232589)
Schweitzer Klassifikation
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.
