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978-0-89587-164-0
0-89587-164-5
$10.95 paperback
5 1/2" x 8 1/2"
203 pages
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Clever, confident
and, at times, even poignant...this collection abounds with intriguing
situations skillfully rendered.
--Publishers Weekly
Robin Hemley's stories are
thoughtful, funny, and always surprising. The sixteen collected here
offer a cast of characters ranging from the ridiculous, from the queen
of England to the last man on earth. Of course, in Hemley's world,
readers should expect that the lofty will show some blemishes and the
lowly some shreds of dignity.
In the title story of
Hemley's third collection, Peter Costello's signature item is his Big
Ear, an orange plastic cone that allows him to eavesdrop on
conversations through walls, around corners, and from comfortable
distances. He wields it not as a weapon but as a means to understanding
the adult world. Yet, the Big Ear can't translate what it hears, leaving
Peter trying to grasp the difference between what adults say and what
they mean.
In "Hobnobbing with the
Nearly Famous," Daniel Boone, the embattled president of a famous
names club, falls to a coup led by the likes of Albert Einsteen and
Alfred Hitchkoch, only to find himself in circumstances that call forth
a kind of heroism worthy of the historical Boone.
As the London Sunday Times
described him, Hemley is the kind of writer who likes to "dig up
something and then, from a safe distance, watch it wriggling on the
prongs of one's fork." His characters may not appreciate the
scrutiny, but his readers are sure to be entertained.
about the author
Robin Hemley is the author of five books. He is the 1996 recipient of
the Nelson Algren Award. His short stories have been published in
numerous magazines, collected in anthologies such as The Pushcart
Prize and Best American Humor, and featured on National
Public Radio. He is the director of the non-fiction writing program at University of Iowa.
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