Jesus and Fat Tuesday: And Other Short Stories

These 14 short, universal stories are imbued with the love and strength of McElroy's award-winning poetry (Queen of the Ebony Isles) and, at the same time, are deeply rooted in her black-American heritage. The settings range from rural to urban, from the 1880s to the years immediately following the Vietnam War, and are all ordinary, overlooked places in the geographical and emotional heartland of America. A piano player in prohibition-era East St. Louis meets with hard times and grows old sitting on a sidewalk, his fingers playing ragtime tunes in the air. An outspoken little girl describes a daredevil eating contest that escalates until a boy eats a mouse and ends up in the hospital. Each protagonist struggles with limitations of opportunity, age, intelligence or power; yet the ability of each to experience life within his or her world is endless. The characters give of themselvesa child, a song, a protest, a promiseand these gifts go straight to the reader's heart.(September)