Joytime Killbox

by Brian Wood

Overview

The awkwardness of modern living takes center stage in these nine short stories by Brian Wood. Well-intentioned characters fumble through social situations: a man making small talk in line for a deadly thrill ride, a pet parrot arrested for murder, a seductive stranger on an airplane who just pulled out a handle of gin. With sparse prose and candid humor, these stories draw attention to the absurdities of our day-to-day interactions.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781942683919
Publisher:	BOA Editions, Ltd.
Publication date:	10/15/2019
Series:	American Reader , #33
Pages:	136
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Brian Wood has worked as a ghostwriter on five published books. This is his first collection published under his own name. He has served as the Managing Editor of Reed Magazine and the Fiction Editor for POST. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing from San Jose State University, and his work earned him a Ludwig Scholarship for Excellence in Creative Writing, as well as the James Phelan Award for Short Fiction and Familiar Essays. Most recently, his story collection was a finalist for the BOA Editions Short Fiction Prize. He lives in Rochester, NY, where he is a writing instructor at Writers & Books and the co-host of the Two Month Review podcast produced by Open Letter Press.

Table of Contents

PART I. STRANGERS
What to Say to a Child in the Speedway Bathroom
Joytime Killbox
Fallen Timbers
PART II. FRIENDS
USS Flagg
Beasts of Flight
Diary of a Bad Afternoon at Nordstrom
PART III. LOVERS
My Roberta
Walking Dogs
Rough Air

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

“A collection full of startling, unforgettable treasures. With echoes of Kafka and homages to George Saunders, Brian Wood rewards readers with his remarkable combination of tenderness, searing wit, and striking inventions.”
—Joanna Scott, author of Careers For Women

“In my list of favorite stories—written by people like Cheever and Bolaño and Nabokov, Denis Johnson and Barry Hannah—are the ones that always, when I read and reread them, make me think: ‘Ah, yes: this is exactly how a short-story should be, look, sound, work.’ Welcome to my list, short-stories by Brian Wood.”
—Rodrigo Fresán, author of The Invented Part

Editorial Reviews

01/13/2020

Wood’s slight, absurdist collection of brief encounters exploits the story-making potential of human misunderstanding and the failure to connect. In “What to Say to a Child in the Speedway Bathroom,” a man’s effort to help a child properly use a public urinal leads to a confrontation with the boy’s mother. In “USS Flagg,” the narrator takes stock of a deceased friend’s collection of rare comic and action figures, reflecting on the value of their friendship (“For guys like us, making friends wasn’t easy”). In the episodic “Beasts of Flight,” a 16-year-old boy goes for walks with his pet parrot, blending in unnoticed until the parrot emulates the sound of a traffic signal, causing the death of a blind man in an intersection. “Diary of a Bad Afternoon” follows 17-year-old writer Ellis’s quest to meet his hero, J.M. Coetzee, while Ellis’s mother, who believes he is gay, encourages him to “flair it up” while silently noting eligible women who might interest a “straight Ellis.” In “My Roberta,” a man’s wife becomes a stranger to him after getting a clitoral hood piercing and buying a motorcycle. While too many of the diffuse tales fall short of resolution, Wood’s knack for identifying characters’ discomfort makes him a talent to watch. Fans of Padgett Powell will want to take a look. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

A collection full of startling, unforgettable treasures. With echoes of Kafka and homages to George Saunders, Brian Wood rewards readers with his remarkable combination of tenderness, searing wit, and striking inventions.”
—Joanna Scott, author of Careers For Women

“In my list of favorite stories—written by people like Cheever and Bolaño and Nabokov, Denis Johnson and Barry Hannah—are the ones that always, when I read and reread them, make me think: ‘Ah, yes: this is exactly how a short-story should be, look, sound, work.’ Welcome to my list, short-stories by Brian Wood.”
—Rodrigo Fresán, author of The Invented Part

From the Publisher