A debut short story collection in the tradition of writers like Kelly Link, Aimee Bender, and George Saundersâstrange, imaginative, and refreshingly originalânow on audio as part of Eccoâs âArt of the Storyâ Series, and with a new introduction from the author.
Kevin Wilsonâs characters inhabit a world that moves seamlessly between the real and the imagined, the mundane and the fantastic. âGrand Stand-Inâ is narrated by an employee of the Nuclear Family Supplemental Providerâa company that supplies âstand-insâ for families with deceased, ill, or just plain mean grandparents. And in âBlowing Up On the Spot,â a story singled out by Ann Patchett for Ploughshares, a young woman works sorting tiles at a Scrabble factory after her parents have spontaneously combusted.
Southern gothic at its best, laced with humor and pathos, these wonderfully inventive stories explore the relationship between loss and death and the many ways we try to cope with both.