This volume brings together 30 of George Singleton’s best short stories from eight of his collections, reprinted from Atlantic Monthly, Playboy, Harpers, Kenyon Review, and many other prestigious magazines. They have appeared in six different years of New Stories from the South: The Year’s Best. I am proud that I published one, “Columbarium” – after I looked the word up – when I was editor of Appalachian Heritage, and that it was chosen for New Stories from the South before it was chosen for this collection. One of the stories in this book is about a man who takes his son to visit the many girlfriends who could have been his mother – now if that doesn’t entire you, what will? I mean, George Singleton has an amazing knack for putting his characters in hilarious situations! "People always ask what is the one book you’d take to a deserted island. For me, it might be this one." ―David Joy. "A greatest-hits album from a writer whose stories are like epic spitballs from the back of the class: high-arcing and unbearably funny protests against the absurdities of everyday life." ― Garden & Gun. "In his brilliant mix of comedy and tragedy and deep tenderness for the most ‘minor’ characters among us, George Singleton is nothing less than the Shakespeare of South Carolina." ―Margaret Renkl. George Singleton grew up in Greenwood, South Carolina with strong ties to the Blue Ridge nearby. He now teaches at Wofford College in Spartanburg.
Spartanburg, South Carolina: Hub City Press, 2020. Hardback in dust jacket.