Reviews
"Nobody carries the torch passed by John Cheever more ably and wittily than Brock Clarke in these funny, dark, and knowing stories."-David Gates, author ofJerniganandThe Wonders of the Invisible World, """There exist but a few undeniable truths in regards to writing short stories, I believe. Any forthcoming textbook needs to include "Carrying the Torch" in the Make the Miraculous Seem Everyday, the Everyday Miraculous' chapter. Brock Clarke's stories are exquisitely smart and funny and honest. I promise that these characters will pull you into their lives faster than a junkyard magnet attracts paper clips. Brock Clarke's a writer's writer."-George Singleton, author of "Why Dogs Chase Cars", "There exist but a few undeniable truths in regards to writing short stories, I believe. Any forthcoming textbook needs to include Carrying the Torch in the ' Make the Miraculous Seem Everyday, the Everyday Miraculous ' chapter. Brock Clarke ' s stories are exquisitely smart and funny and honest. I promise that these characters will pull you into their lives faster than a junkyard magnet attracts paper clips. Brock Clarke ' s a writer ' s writer." -- George Singleton, author of Why Dogs Chase Cars, "Be prepared to be surprised on every page of Clarke's collection of brilliant short stories. . . . Clarke's literary bombshells are . . . of the appreciatively hushed 'wow!' and 'whoa!' variety that accompany a sublimely crafted sentence or a distinctive turn of phrase that comes seemingly out of nowhere, with its unexpected ability to render large truths in such a pithily appropriate way that even the most critical reader will sit up and take notice." Booklist"Clarke maps out the New South in the nine assured stories of his second collection, subtly linking America's decaying Northern cities and Southern suburban sprawl with the frayed emotional microcosm of the migratory families who inhabit these territories. In the title story, set in sterile suburban Atlanta during the 1996 Olympics, a wronged wife whose wry, breezy voice overlays painful emptiness crafts a wooden model of her philandering husband's penis while she fantasizes about severing the real thing. The decayed core of a marriage mirrors the urban blight of Savannah, Ga., in the fantastical "For Those of Us Who Need Such Things," about a husband who learns a bleak lesson about the myths of authenticity and true love when he buys and attempts to revitalize the Southern city in an effort to win back his estranged wife. "I'm not the man I once was and feel no need to defend myself," declares the unreliable narrator of "The Son's Point of View," a deficient father who inevitably asserts his version of history while trying to inhabit his son's point of view. Clarke's light touch in these layered stories brings home the plight of his unfaithful husbands, dissatisfied wives and angry children in search of home and meaning." Publishers' WeeklyWinner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction"Nobody carries the torch passed by John Cheever more ably and wittily than Brock Clarke in these funny, dark, and knowing stories." David Gates, author of Jernigan and The Wonders of the Invisible World"There exist but a few undeniable truths in regards to writing short stories, I believe. Any forthcoming textbook needs to include Carrying the Torch in the 'Make the Miraculous Seem Everyday, the Everyday Miraculous' chapter. Brock Clarke's stories are exquisitely smart and funny and honest. I promise that these characters will pull you into their lives faster than a junkyard magnet attracts paper clips. Brock Clarke's a writer's writer." George Singleton, author of Why Dogs Chase Cars, There exist but a few undeniable truths in regards to writing short stories, I believe. Any forthcoming textbook needs to include|9780803215511|, "Brock Clarke's latest short story collection is his most compelling, balanced, and well-executed offering to date. . . . Carrying the Torch is above all a series of earned moments that always feel genuine. Undoubtedly, this collection cements Clarke's place among the exciting new voices in American fiction."-Lydia Wilkes, Indiana Review, "Nobody carries the torch passed by John Cheever more ably and wittily than Brock Clarke in these funny, dark, and knowing stories."-David Gates, author of Jernigan and The Wonders of the Invisible World, "Nobody carries the torch passed by John Cheever more ably and wittily than Brock Clarke in these funny, dark, and knowing stories."David Gates, author ofJerniganandThe Wonders of the Invisible World, "It takes a uniquely sympathetic vision to render contemporary suburban America without sentimentality or condescension, and Clarke has it. The stories in Carrying the Torch are full of sympathy-complex, hard-won, and real."-Matthew Purdy, Iron Horse Literary Review, "There exist but a few undeniable truths in regards to writing short stories, I believe. Any forthcoming textbook needs to includeCarrying the Torchin the 'Make the Miraculous Seem Everyday, the Everyday Miraculous' chapter. Brock Clarke's stories are exquisitely smart and funny and honest. I promise that these characters will pull you into their lives faster than a junkyard magnet attracts paper clips. Brock Clarke's a writer's writer."George Singleton, author ofWhy Dogs Chase Cars, "There exist but a few undeniable truths in regards to writing short stories, I believe. Any forthcoming textbook needs to include Carrying the Torch in the 'Make the Miraculous Seem Everyday, the Everyday Miraculous' chapter. Brock Clarke's stories are exquisitely smart and funny and honest. I promise that these characters will pull you into their lives faster than a junkyard magnet attracts paper clips. Brock Clarke's a writer's writer."George Singleton, author of Why Dogs Chase Cars, "There exist but a few undeniable truths in regards to writing short stories, I believe. Any forthcoming textbook needs to include Carrying the Torch in the 'Make the Miraculous Seem Everyday, the Everyday Miraculous' chapter. Brock Clarke's stories are exquisitely smart and funny and honest. I promise that these characters will pull you into their lives faster than a junkyard magnet attracts paper clips. Brock Clarke's a writer's writer."-George Singleton, author of Why Dogs Chase Cars, "It takes a uniquely sympathetic vision to render contemporary suburban America without sentimentality or condescension, and Clarke has it. The stories inCarrying the Torchare full of sympathycomplex, hard-won, and real."Matthew Purdy,Iron Horse Literary Review, "There exist but a few undeniable truths in regards to writing short stories, I believe. Any forthcoming textbook needs to includeCarrying the Torchin the 'Make the Miraculous Seem Everyday, the Everyday Miraculous' chapter. Brock Clarke's stories are exquisitely smart and funny and honest. I promise that these characters will pull you into their lives faster than a junkyard magnet attracts paper clips. Brock Clarke's a writer's writer."-George Singleton, author ofWhy Dogs Chase Cars, """Nobody carries the torch passed by John Cheever more ably and wittily than Brock Clarke in these funny, dark, and knowing stories."-David Gates, author of "Jernigan" and "The Wonders of the Invisible World", "Brock Clarke's latest short story collection is his most compelling, balanced, and well-executed offering to date. . . . Carrying the Torch is above all a series of earned moments that always feel genuine. Undoubtedly, this collection cements Clarke's place among the exciting new voices in American fiction."Lydia Wilkes, Indiana Review, "It takes a uniquely sympathetic vision to render contemporary suburban America without sentimentality or condescension, and Clarke has it. The stories in Carrying the Torch are full of sympathycomplex, hard-won, and real."Matthew Purdy, Iron Horse Literary Review, "" "Nobody carries the torch passed by John Cheever more ably and wittily than Brock Clarke in these funny, dark, and knowing stories."-- David Gates, author of "Jernigan" and "The Wonders of the Invisible World", "Nobody carries the torch passed by John Cheever more ably and wittily than Brock Clarke in these funny, dark, and knowing stories."David Gates, author of Jernigan and The Wonders of the Invisible World, "Brock Clarke's latest short story collection is his most compelling, balanced, and well-executed offering to date. . . .Carrying the Torchis above all a series of earned moments that always feel genuine. Undoubtedly, this collection cements Clarke's place among the exciting new voices in American fiction."Lydia Wilkes,Indiana Review, "" "There exist but a few undeniable truths in regards to writing short stories, I believe. Any forthcoming textbook needs to include "Carrying the Torch" in the ' Make the Miraculous Seem Everyday, the Everyday Miraculous' chapter. Brock Clarke' s stories are exquisitely smart and funny and honest. I promise that these characters will pull you into their lives faster than a junkyard magnet attracts paper clips. Brock Clarke' s a writer' s writer."-- George Singleton, author of "Why Dogs Chase Cars"
