Goodnight, Nobody
 
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ABOUT THE BOOK Goodnight, Nobody FROM THE PUBLISHER "Goodnight, Nobody is a collection of stories of rediscovered love, reconciliation, and peace amid the trials of everyday life, proves once again that he is "a genius of the ordinary" (Frederick Barthelme)." In each story, characters are surprised by their mettle even as they recognize their fallibility; they are convinced of the power of love, family, and trust even as they experience the danger of obsession, anger, and simple accident. In the subtle romance "Birdland," a beautiful ornithologist from up north does her best to deny the lure of a parrot-populated Alabama village and its resident driftwood carver. In the stylistically daring masterpiece "Killing Stonewall Jackson," a rough band of Confederate soldiers contemplate the distant, fabled Stonewall Jackson, the man who has sent them to a hellish battlefield. From a stay-at-home father - immobilized by a bad back - waiting helplessly for his sullen step-daughter to assist him, to a suburban husband stalking his wife's lover with a pair of night-vision goggles, Knight's stories are bound by an unfailing compassion for the self-destructed. FROM THE CRITICS USA Today Knight's talent is in the details, all the wonderful little moments he hands us along the way. — Anne Stephenson Publishers Weekly A nostalgic ex-football star "weeps quietly" after being shown footage of his shining moment; a snowstorm creates a scene that "sparkled like the world was made of broken glass." Delicately wrought characters and quiet, satisfying observations mark Knight's impressive second collection of short fiction (after Dogfight and Other Stories), populated by hard-luck guys trying to stay afloat in an unkind but often very funny world. A normally level-headed Alabama driftwood artist in "Birdland" finds himself helplessly smitten with "the Blond," a pretty ornithologist from New Hampshire who's in town tracking the migration habits of African parrots. She's fiercely independent and resists his marriage proposals, but can't bring herself to walk away from his passionate, over-the-top displays of devotion. In "Ellen's Book," Keith's wife deserts their marriage after a still-born pregnancy. He stalks her at her parents' house, unexpectedly developing an intense-if ambivalent-relationship with Ellen's father, who "understands the simple Algebra of manliness." In "The Mesmerist," a hypnotist on his way to a performance in New Orleans turns a bitter, lonely fellow passenger into a grateful wife. "Blackout" is a hilarious comedy of errors involving two couples, a downed power line, a dead neighbor and a pair of night vision goggles. Just when Knight's characters stray too close to well-trod Raymond Carver territory, an unanticipated turn of events-or turn of phrase-makes them fresh. Knight demonstrates a distinct talent for creating literary mountains from life's molehills. (Feb.) Copyright 2003 Cahners Business Information. Library Journal The nine stories in this collection by PEN/ Hemingway finalist Knight have all been previously published in magazines. "Divining Rod" examines its characters' isolation and loneliness and also the hope that keeps them going. In "Birdland," a blond bird lover comes to a small Alabama town, which is the winter migration stop of parrots, and gets involved with the locals. In "Mitchell's Girls" a man's bad back forces him to think about his relationship with his daughter, stepdaughter, and wife, while in "Feeling Lucky" a man tries to kidnap his daughter. An attempt to win back a wife while writing a story about her is explored in "Ellen's Book," and in the strongest story, "Killing Stonewall Jackson," the lives of Confederate soldiers are revealed. The inability of people to relate to others is explored in stories like "Blackout," where loss of electrical power leads to an explosion of underlying tensions, and "Keeper of Secrets, Teller of Lies," in which a man tries to help a mother and daughter only to be ignored out of suspicion. The stories are concise, poignant, and sometimes ironic. R

Submitted On:

09 Sep 2007

File Author:

Knight, Michael

File Size:

2.01 MB