by Donald Hays
First published 2009
Coach Raymond's world collapses when his wife leaves him for the black coach in the neighboring town. He gets in his truck with a gun and begins a downward spiral that will cost him his job, land him in jail, and strip away everything he thought he knew about himself. In another story, a failed painter moves in with his dying father, seeking redemption in the shadow of brutal honesty. A writing teacher who hasn't published in twelve years finds himself in bed with a student when her ex-boyfriend crashes through the window. An older white man and younger black woman escape from a mental institution together. These characters inhabit a distinctly Southern landscape where crisis reveals character. Hays presents people at their breaking points, forced to confront the gap between who they thought they were and who they actually are. Each story captures the moment when ordinary people face extraordinary choices that will define the rest of their lives.
Genres: fiction, short-stories, literary-fiction, contemporary
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, ordinary-people-extraordinary-choices
Setting: South, Southern
Period: Contemporary
261 pages · Kindle Edition · MacAdam/Cage
Content warnings: depression, mental-illness