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Drowning Lessons With empathy and wit, Selgin introduces us to characters navigating the choppy waters of human relationships. In "Swimming," an avid swimmer fights the stasis in his marriage by prodding his out-of-shape but contented wife into taking up the sport-with near-disastrous results. A pond is the setting of "The Wolf House," which tells of the reunion and dissolution of a group of high school friends brought together for a funeral. "The Sinking Ship Man" chronicles a day in the life of an African American caretaker in charge of the only remaining survivor of the Titanic disaster. In "El Malecón" a toothless old Dominican tries to recapture his lost dignity by "borrowing" a shiny Cadillac convertible and aiming it down the coastal highway toward his childhood village. In "The Sea Cure," two travelers in Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula confront death in the form of a mysterious woman living in an abandoned beachfront apartment complex. In all thirteen tales in Drowning Lessons, Selgin exhibits a keen eye for the forces that push people toward-and sometimes beyond-their very human limits, forces as intrinsic, elemental, and elusive as the liquid that makes up two-thirds of their bodies. These stories remind us that of all bodies of water, none is deeper or more dangerous than our own. Peter Selgin's stories and essays have appeared in dozens of publications, including Missouri Review, Glimmer Train, and Best American Essays. He is the author of the forthcoming novel Life Goes to the Movies, as well as By Cunning & Craft: Sound Advice and Practical Wisdom for Fiction Writers. October 2008 ISBN 0820332100 cloth • $24.95 256 pp. • 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 in.A volume in the seriesThe Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction "A wine-dark blood rushes through the pages of Drowning Lessons. Tap a vein and drink deeply and taste the best and the worst kind of love. In these pages you will experience lust, spite, jealousy, fidelity, rose-flavored romance, and doe-eyed affection, sometimes all in the same story. Thank goodness for Peter Selgin, who shares with us the mysteries of the human heart in this electric, revealing collection." —Melissa Pritchard, author of Late Bloomer"Peter Selgin's stories are mordantly funny, at times desperately sad, but always full of hard-earned wisdom and subversive irony. His collection ranges across time and space in a way few other writers have. Drowning Lessons is a book that deserves serious attention from all lovers of American short fiction." —Jess Row, author of The Train to Lo Wu |
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