Train Shots Stories
Train Shots Stories by Vanessa Blakeslee, published by Burrow Press in March 2014, is a collection of short stories that explores the lives of diverse characters facing unique challenges. With a total of 145 pages, this edition presents narratives that delve into the complexities of human experience, featuring a single mother in a preacher’s carriage house, a pop star in a moment of despair, and a doctor grappling with addiction after personal loss. Each story captures the essence of its characters’ struggles through a lens of dark humor and insightful prose.
Readers will find that the stories in this collection are marked by their rich detail and emotional depth, as Blakeslee examines the idiosyncratic and the everyday. The characters navigate their predicaments with a blend of humor and poignancy, inviting reflection on the circumstances that shape their lives. This edition showcases Blakeslee’s distinctive voice, offering a glimpse into the intricacies of life through a series of engaging snapshots. The stories have appeared in various literary publications, further highlighting the author’s skill in crafting compelling narratives.
Official synopsis Publisher
IPPY Gold Medal Winner (short story collections)
Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award Long List
Sherwood Anderson Award Finalist
A single mother rents a fundamentalist preacher’s carriage house. A pop star contemplates suicide in the hotel where Janis Joplin died. A philandering ex-pat doctor gets hooked on morphine while reeling from his wife’s death. And in the title story, a train engineer, after running over a young girl on his tracks, grapples with the pervasive question-what propels a life toward such a disastrous end?
Rendered in a style both generous and intelligent, the men and women at the center of these subtle stories are driven by their unusual predicaments and preoccupations. Rife with dark humor, Blakeslee’s snapshots illuminate the idiosyncratic and the mundane in energetic, bristling prose that marks the arrival of a powerful new voice. Stories from this collection first appeared in The Southern Review, Green Mountains Review, Harpur Palate, Cimarron Review, The Madison Review, Going Down Swinging, and Skidrow Penthouse, among other publications.
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