The Half-Mammals of Dixie: Stories - Hardcover

Singleton, George

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1565123549 ISBN 13: 9781565123540

Publisher: Algonquin Books, 2002

Synopsis

George Singleton, who's had many stories published in the best literary journals, has recently burst into the big time with appearances in Playboy, Zoetrope, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's Magazine and Book. The stories in his new collection are wild and wooly - or maybe we should say wild and half-wooly. In any case, they're definitely not for the creationist crowd or for the laughter impaired. For example:

- A self-described "primitive artist," getting rich off religious canvases, is mistaken for a faith healer.

- A lovelorn dad woos his third grader's teacher with very special show-and-tells, including long lost love letters to Shakespeare from Anne Hathaway, to Fred Astaire from Ginger Rogers, and to Henry VIII from all of his wives.

- A boy's reputation is ruined forever when he accepts the starring role in a documentary on diagnosing head lice.

Off-the-wall. But also utterly believable and written with tremendous affection for the people and their place-a place called Forty-Five, part of the contemporary South that's far removed from big city Atlanta or proper Charleston and, in fact, much like Singleton's own hometown of Dacusville, South Carolina. As he says of his characters, "They're regular people just trying to get by. Most of them aren't jaded by everyday life, though perhaps they should have been long ago. There are some with physical and mental limitations, but I hope all of them have heart."

They do indeed, just like their stories.

About this title

Review:

"[A] marvelously skewed and skewering collection of stories ... a book by turns raucous and enigmatic, and by and large inspired and inventive." --"The San-Diego Union Tribune"
"Hilarious...keeps the humor volume on high." "--The Seattle Times"
"Singleton's relentlessly offbeat stories are a miasma of flea markets, palm readers, bowling alleys, and alligator." --"Entertainment Weekly"
"ƯA¨ marvelously skewed and skewering collection of stories ... a book by turns raucous and enigmatic, and by and large inspired and inventive." --"The San-Diego Union Tribune"
PRAISE FOR THE HALF-MAMMALS OF DIXIE
"A miasma of flea markets, palm readers, bowling alleys, and alligators, offering a disturbingly askew-at times, downright surreal-vision of the South."-Entertainment Weekly
"When was the last time you sat reading, in a beach chair, and started laughing out loud? . . . George Singleton keeps the humor volume on high."-The Seattle Times
PRAISE FOR THE HALF-MAMMALS OF DIXIE
"A miasma of flea markets, palm readers, bowling alleys, and alligators, offering a disturbingly askew-at times, downright surreal-vision of the South."-Entertainment Weekly

"When was the last time you sat reading, in a beach chair, and started laughing out loud? . . . George Singleton keeps the humor volume on high."-The Seattle Times

From the Back Cover:

A BOOK MAGAZINE Best Short Story Collection of the Year
In a South far removed from big-city Atlanta and proper Charleston is a town so tiny it missed the map: Forty-Five, South Carolina. Here a boy's reputation is ruined forever when he stars in an educational documentary about head lice; a former pharmaceuticals salesman waits for the word of God to tell him what to paint; a single dad woos a teacher with the show-and-tell objects he sends to school with his son; and motivational speakers, aquarium salesmen, flea-market shoppers, and palm readers mingle with hilarious results.
Overlooked, underappreciated, and funnier than a potbellied pig on a leash, the residents of Forty-Five are utterly impossible to forget.
"Relentlessly offbeat . . . A disturbingly askew-at times, downright surreal-vision of the South."-Entertainment Weekly
"Singleton's voice comes off like that of a brilliant barfly, who occasionally suffers from the clairvoyance of madness."-The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)
"Sly, intelligent, hilarious."-The Charlotte Observer
George Singleton has been published in the Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Playboy, and Zoetrope. The author of the short-story collection These People Are Us, he teaches writing at South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities and lives in Pickens County, South Carolina.

About this edition

• Publisher: Algonquin Books
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1565123549
• ISBN 13: 9781565123540
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304