American standard / John Blair.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Blair, John (John M.)

Language:

English

Genre:

Fiction.

Physical Description:

181 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Pittsburgh, Pa. : University of Pittsburgh Press, [2002]

Summary:

It is hard to see what lurks beneath the surface of a muddy river, an alligator-infested lake, or a John Blair short story. At first glance, the characters in American Standard may seem as familiar and uncomplicated as old drinking buddies or innocuous next-door neighbors. Yet, their dark, dangerous, and disturbing currents run deep.

Julia is a devout, demure, churchgoing woman, but underneath her placidity roils discontent, perhaps even madness. On what would have been an otherwise normal Sunday morning, she wakes up, walks downstairs, and shoots her husband with his own revolver. A middle-aged, unemployed technical writer. Jack owns a home in the suburbs and a mutt named Hoover. Yet he is drowning in suburbia; his wife has been sleeping alone on a futon for the past year, and he risks his life every night during his secret outings.

At the Young Adults Group campout, not-quite-innocent Fisher reels in more than he expects to find, both behind the dark sunglasses of the minister's wife and in the phosphorescent waters of a ghostly river. Existing on a modest church stipend and his belief in God, Pastor Bob trawls life's shallows for meaning, salvation, and a modicum of hope as he attempts to save his marriage.

Dave spends his afternoons lugging the belongings of college students in the back of his truck and dozing through episodes of The Young and the Restless. When he meets a distraught coed, he and his small universe are nearly swallowed by a fast-growing sinkhole of circumstance and misfortune. Unemployed, uninterested Billy's most egregious offense just might be lethargy. He embarks on a tempestuous motorcycle ride that leaves him balancing on a razor's edge between tragedy and salvation.

Set mostly in central Florida, especially the suburban streets near Orlando, Blair's interconnected stories capture lives of disquieting longing and stubborn isolation. For them, this is the American standard, as ubiquitous and undistinguished as vitreous china bathroom fixtures.

Contents:

Bacon on the Beach 1

Running Away 21

American Standard 37

Moving Man 56

Memorial Day 79

Trash Fish 83

Swimming the Cave 94

Happy Puppy 97

Julia Loving the Face of God 122

A Small Church in the Country 144

The Grove 157

Ghost River 164.

Notes:

"Drue Heinz Literature Prize, 2002."

ISBN:

0822941929

OCLC:

50591544