Stories by Christopher Merkner

January 14, 2014 • 5.5 x 8.25 • 228 pages • 978-1-56689-338-1

Shirley Jackson for the contemporary Midwest, where the ties of family and community intersect darkly with suburban American life.

In these stories, an enraged village gaslights unsuspecting vacationers and a young man delays an impending confession, fondling the nostrils of his mother’s pet pig. Sharp and uneasy, for these inheritors of tradition, that which binds them most closely—offering stability and identity and comfort—are precisely the qualities that set them back, pull them down, burden, limit, and ruin them.

About the Author

Christopher Merkner teaches creative writing at West Chester University. His work has appeared in Black Warrior Review, Cincinnati Review, Fairy Tale Review, Gettysburg Review, New Orleans Review, and Best American Mystery Stories.

Thanks to a 2013 ADA Access Improvement Grant administered by for the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council, this title is also formatted for screen readers which make text accessible to the blind and visually impaired. To purchase this title for use with a screen reader please call (612) 338-0125 or email us at .

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