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"George Singleton is the quintessential Southern writer of today. He writes the way we live--reckless, fearless, and wild, ready to love and laugh with abandon. I read everything he writes. Everybody should."--Chris Offutt, author of
Country Dark"George Singleton's talent as a humorist is on full display in
Staff Picks but don't let your laughter distract you from the fact that he is also a sly, insightful witness to life in the American South and one of the most dexterous short story writers anywhere. He knows our hurts and fears, our desires and disappointments. He understands better than just about anybody that life can be sublime and heartbreaking and absurd all at once and he holds nothing back in his best collection yet."--Michael Knight, author of
Eveningland"What a pleasure these stories are! Singleton's kooky, endearing characters are grotesquely original and at the same time next-door familiar. They are forever attempting to connect with the people around them, but somehow, too often, keep missing. If there's redemption here, it lies in the fact that they keep trying. And always, beneath the humor and the word play and the fun-house distortion, these stories simmer with frustration at the South's most absurd paradoxes and entrenched injustices."--Julia Franks, author of
Over the Plain Houses
About the author
George Singleton, author of numerous works of fiction and one of nonfiction, is a former Guggenheim fellow and member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. His stories have appeared in many publications including
Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Georgia Review, Playboy, and
New Stories from the South.
Summary
Set in and around the fictional town of Steepleburg, South Carolina, the loosely tied stories in George Singleton's Staff Picks place sympathetic, oddball characters in absurd, borderline surreal situations that slowly reveal the angst of southern history with humour and bite.
