Sublime Underdogs
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It is my hope that this collection of stories, Sublime Underdogs, uncovers the beauty and the pain in unique aspects of the human experience: a lonely young woman who is terrified of getting cancer, for instance, or a man who finds himself falling for a woman who believes she is a cat, or two former lovers reunited on the eve of the Kansas City Royals’ first playoff berth in 30 years only to discover one of them has gone blind and the other is a recovering alcoholic. The narrators in these stories are frequently unreliable and perhaps unlikeable, but they are always honest (to the best of their ability), and they are never boring. These stories aim to achieve what Lenny, the narrator in “Cat Lady,” describes as “taking the weird-ass truth, hacking it open like the festering corpse of a dead horse, and climbing inside.” This collection also contains two nonfiction essays, which have been included because of my deep attachment to their subject matter. The first provides a snapshot into my battle with and recovery from alcoholism, and the second links my love of gardening with my desire to remain simultaneously curious and grounded following the birth of my first child, who is due in July. It is my hope that readers find these stories and essays simultaneously surprising and relatable.
Table of Contents
Critical Introduction -- Sasha the Peacock -- Baseball Old -- Cat Lady -- Emergency Backup Plan -- The Worst Kind, Part I -- The Worst Kind, Part II -- 36 Hours -- Mud Rock Run -- Cinnamon Roll With It -- The First Warm Rain -- Better Play It Safe -- Hairdos -- Garbage House -- Downward-Facing Dog -- Getting Out of Big Bend -- Ghost Hunting (nonfiction) -- Watching a Watermelon Grow
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M.F.A.