Work Shirts for Madmen - Hardcover

Singleton, George

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0151013071 ISBN 13: 9780151013074

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2007

Synopsis

Renegade artist Harp Spillman is lower than a bow-legged fire ant. Because of an unhealthy relationship with the bottle, he’s ruined his reputation as one of the South’s preeminent commissioned metal sculptors. And his desperate turn to ice sculpting might’ve led to a posse of angry politicians on his trail. With the help of his sane and practical potter wife, Raylou, Harp understands that it’s time to return to the mig welder. Yes, it’s time to prove that he can complete a series of twelve-foot-high metal angels—welded completely out of hex nuts—for the city of Birmingham. Is it pure chance that the Elbow Boys, their arms voluntarily fused so they can’t drink, show up in order to help Harp out in a variety of ways? And why did his neighbor smuggle anteaters into desolate Ember Glow? Is it true that there’s no free will?

About this title

About the Authors

GEORGE SINGLETON lives in Pickens County, South Carolina, with ceramicist Glenda Guion and their mixture of strays. More than one hundred of his stories have been published nationally in magazines and anthologies.

GEORGE SINGLETON lives in Pickens County, South Carolina, with ceramicist Glenda Guion and their mixture of strays. More than one hundred of his stories have been published nationally in magazines and anthologies.

From the Back Cover

PRAISE FOR WORK SHIRTS FOR MADMEN

"Smackover funny and rare, many of Singleton's laughs come from deep wit and not easy southern eccentricities and the rough-screeching Skoal crowd."--Barry Hannah, author of Yonder Stands Your Orphan

"George Singleton writes like a irreverent genius with his finger on the pulse of an American culture gone as absurd as the price you recently paid a dermatologist. But if you happen to be a physician, or therapist, better skip this one . . . or if you wear one of those little American flags in your lapel, better skip this one, et cetera. But if you want a short-time, sentence-by-sentence, explosive pleasure, or a long-time pleasure brought by a story with a beating pulse that you can live inside of for awhile, and remember forever, then take this on over to the cash register."--Clyde Edgerton, author of Lunch at the Piccadilly

PRAISE FOR GEORGE SINGLETON

"George Singleton writes about the rural South without sentimentality or stereotype but with plenty of sharp-witted humor.... A raconteur of trends, counter-trends, obsessions and odd characters." --Morning Edition, NPR

"Singleton is an ace at locating the pathos beneath the deadpan laughs."--USA Today

From the Inside Flap

Renegade artist Harp Spillman is lower than a bow-legged fire ant. Because of an unhealthy relationship with the bottle, he s ruined his reputation as one of the South s preeminent commissioned metal sculptors. And his desperate turn to ice sculpting might ve led to a posse of angry politicians on his trail. With the help of his sane and practical potter wife, Raylou, Harp understands that it s time to return to the mig welder. Yes, it s time to prove that he can complete a series of twelve-foot-high metal angels?welded completely out of hex nuts?for the city of Birmingham. Is it pure chance that the Elbow Boys, their arms voluntarily fused so they can t drink, show up in order to help Harp out in a variety of ways? And why did his neighbor smuggle anteaters into desolate Ember Glow? Is it true that there s no free will?

Edition details

• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
• Publication date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0151013071
• ISBN 13: 9780151013074
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 317