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Synopsis
In the cadence of a Texas drawl or the whisper of a midday kiss, these stories by Gail Galloway Adams capture untidy lives in which the pain of living is confounded with a grin. From the yoga instructor with her Earthshoes and mantras to the Texas aunt who wills herself insane, the characters in Adams's stories boldly face the sorrows and strains of everyday life, seeking relief in humor and redemption in words. The Purchase of Order depicts characters from Germany to Georgia, men and women attempting to find meaning within memory, who take joy in giving of themselves.
Publishers Weekly
The most recent winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction, this collection is redolent with regional flavor. In the title story, we meet the Maxeys, a Southern couple who have come a long way from the hardscrabble early days of their marriageraising children in a trailer court, finding a friend in a goodnatured, somewhat slatternly neighbor who enjoyed the labor of raking a dirt yard. Now, better off, settled into a middle-class existence, they travel the country in their RV with no fixed destination, only a longing to meet up with the old friend they moved up and away from. ``Marva Jean Howard Confesses'' introduces a likable, fast-talking waitress who confesses she ``murdered'' a cow, and in the process of telling wins the amorous admiration of her law officer listener; ``he'd fallen in love with the way she emptied ketchup bottles.'' ``Inside Dope'' is an unusual love story, featuring a know-everything womanizer, Billy Lee Boaz,``only he's called Bisher,'' says an adoring little ex-sister-in-law. Ranging widely over the lives of authentic men and women and their idiosyncrasies, these 11 tales are impressive models of the storytelling art. (October)