Bloomsbury Review
What virtually all of the characters share is a profound sense of ironic
detachment that keeps the world at a protective remove. Although Mary Troy could
portray them merely as hapless losers, she wisely chooses to let us glimpse the
resignation behind their struggles. —New
York Times Book Review
This is a master gallery of losers, alcoholics and misfits, each story
distinguished by a skilled descriptive lucidity that really places the reader
there, and by a lean no-nonsense narrative drive that balances the stated and
the implied perfectly, so that it stays just a step ahead of the reader, making
each paragraph its own surprise. All in all a superb collection.
--Ian T. MacMillan
What a lovely collection of stories; each one surprising and revealing. Troy has
a voice irresistibly inviting, truthful, sad, and funny, and with it she tells of
people who, for all their failings, maintain a form of dignity.
--Elizabeth Strout
If you've been admiring Mary Troy's stories for close to twenty years--as I have--her
new collection will come as no surprise. But if you don't know about her, you
are in for a treat. These stories are filled with beauty and heartache, with characters
who seem so real you can't believe that someone made them up. But someone did. And
she's got magic. --Steve Yarbrough
Mary Troy is the author of Joe Baker is Dead. Her stories have appeared in
the Chicago Tribune, Boulevard, Greensboro Review, and numerous
other publications. She is an assistant professor of English at the University of
Missouri-St. Louis and director of the MFA Program. She is also a senior editor of
Natural Bridge. She has lived in Arkansas and Hawaii as well as Missouri.
A recorded interview with this author is available from
