In this striking debut collection, characters find unexpected moments of profound insight while navigating the monotony of daily life. Here we find a man who drives to the wrong mountain, a hubcap cleaner who moonlights as a karaoke star, and a deliveryman whose urgent letters have no willing recipient. While lulled by the deceptively simple rhythm of the ordinary, Kevin Clouther offers the instant before momentous change–the view over the cliff, the intake of breath before a decision, a glimpse of stark vulnerability, of faith and hope.

Clouther’s first collection of stories shows an ‘old’ talent–meaning, his sophistication in treatment and technique and his wise observations of the human condition have the feel of an author who has the experience of several story collections behind him. “

Booklist, starred

In each story, Clouther finds the magic, mystery and story-telling potential in an otherwise ordinary, everyday world. “

Iowa City Press-Citizen

The purpose of [Clouther’s] conceptual stories is to open a vein, tap into a raw emotion in the reader, and his beautiful, character-driven stories are case studies in those emotions. Clouther makes us feel, and then he gives our feelings skin. “

Heavy Feather Review

Kevin Clouther’s collection of short stories is further evidence that some of the most interesting literary fiction is coming out of small presses. . . I can confidently report that this is writing that’s unmistakably alive and feral. . . Dare I say that I hear Raymond Carver and Ernest Hemingway echoing in my head? “

David Abrams, The Quivering Pen