Atlantic Monthly Press
Atlantic Monthly Press
Atlantic Monthly Press
‘members of the men’s movement who have ambiguous, ill- or unexpressed feelings about their dead fathers or harbor troubling tendernesses toward their sons may find some solace come Father’s Day in this collection of stories, poems, and memoirs about things filial.” –Publishers Weekly
David Seybold, editor of the anthologies Seasons of the Angler and Boats, once again brings together some of the best writers of our time in this collection of essays, poems, and stories that examine the mysterious yet eternal relationship between father and son. At turns nostalgic, cathartic, revealing, and wryly humorous, these pieces–coming from vastly different voices–become a poignant and deeply honest tribute to men in all their mortality, both as father and child.
Geologist and author Rick Bass writes about the habits of the Basses, men who live by the simple yet noble assertion “We were raised outdoors, and it’s been a blessing of our life.” Bass shows how his patriarchy has passed on the legacy of love of land, pride in honor, vision that’s broad and generous. In “Why I’m Not a Banker,” Robert F. Jones recalls that summer when he shed his adolescent belief that his father was perfect and godlike; watching him serve as a yes-man to his amoral banking boss, young Jones tastes the first bitter flavor of adulthood. And William Hjortsberg, in “Last Rites,” manages to express a sense of loss, absurdity, and hilarious incomprehension in his eleven-year-old hero, who must come to terms with the cremated remains of his father. Add to these the voices of twenty other talents, including Donald Hall, Joseph McElroy, and Charles Gaines, and Fathers and Sons becomes a collection that transcends categorization, as do all ties between fathers and sons.
Includes:
Charles Gaines, “Cooking the Rat”
Kent Nelson, “The Middle of Nowhere”
Stratis Haviaras, “Every Time I Spill Red Wine I Panic”
John N. Cole, “Contact”
Laton McCartney, “Buck Fever”
Donald Hall, “An Arc of Generations’
Nick Lyons, “Finding Father”
Wesley McNair, “After My Stepfather’s Death”
David Ewing Duncan, “The Raft”
Kenneth Barrett, “Promises’
William Kittredge, “Three-Dollar Dogs’
Jeff Hull, “Rhythm”
David Seybold, “In the Company of Demons’
Dan Gerber, “Last Words’
Joseph McElroy, “Night Soul”
Donald Hall, ‘my Son My Executioner”
Verlyn Klinkenborg, “Notes for a Life Not My Own”
Russell Chatham, “The Fine, Big Country”
Sydney Lea, “The Buzzards’
Jim Fergus, ‘my Father’s Son”
Robert F. Jones, “Why I’m Not a Banker”
Robert Olmstead, “Into the Cut”
William Hjortsberg, “Last Rites’
Rick Bass, “The Other Fort Worth Basses’
“Any woman who thinks men are automatically dealt a royal flush in life should read Fathers and Sons and see that men have their own painful translations of the human condition . . . . A disturbing collection of essays and stories stained with rage, loneliness, tears, and blood. The writers seem to have torn out pieces of their own flesh for this scalding anthology.” –E. Annie Proulx, author of The Shipping News
‘members of the men’s movement who have ambiguous, ill- or unexpressed feelings about their dead fathers or harbor troubling tendernesses toward their sons may find some solace come Father’s Day in this collection of stories, poems, and memoirs about things filial.” –Publishers Weekly
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