The Flounder: And Other Stories

by John Fulton

The riddles of desire, youth, old age, poverty, and wealth are laid bare in this radiant collection from a master of the form. The riddles of desire, youth, old age, poverty, and wealth are laid bare in this radiant collection from a master of the form. From inner-city pawnshops to high-powered law firms, from the desert of California to the coast of France, The Flounder paints a vivid portrait of how complex and poignant everyday life can be. Told in vibrant, incantatory prose, these moving, lyrical, and surprising stories teeter between desperation and hope, with Fulton showing us what lasts in an impermanent world. "In The Flounder , John Fulton writes about men caught in riptides, navigating the rough emotional waters of love, marriage and family. A boy faces his father's terminal illness. A Mormon teenager traveling through post-Soviet Europe fails to lose his virginity. A young husband takes a road trip with his unfaithful wife. Fulton is a writer of great humanity, with an eye for the revelatory moment. These are masterful short stories ñ closely observed, moving, memorable and profound."--Jennifer Haigh, author of Mercy Street " The Flounder … feels unified by topic and tone--although the tones are various and the diction supple--as well as in, from time to time, the names of characters. Marital fidelity and infidelity are at issue here, as is the relation between generations and the search for (one might as well call it) authenticity. And the real connective tissue is the talent of its author, whose eye for detail is both telescopic and microscopic. Whether set in rural North America or towns and villages in Europe, John Fulton's fictions ring true." --Nicholas Delbanco author of Why Writing Matters "Faced with apocalypses that are sometimes private and sometimes prophesized, the characters in John Fulton's The Flounder wrestle with faith in many forms. These are stories that illuminate human realities of love and betrayal, life and death using a touch of the miraculous. The result is an elegant collection with a timeless sensibility, as well as the ecstatic capacity to make its readers see their lives anew."--Allegra Hyde, author of The Last Catastrophe " The Flounder is a remarkable book, full of remarkable stories, stories that move quickly through time while simultaneously being firmly rooted in place, stories that manage to be intimate while also having sweep, and grandeur. In this, they remind me of work by Alice Munro and John Cheever, but really, they're 100% John smart, deeply felt, and ingeniously constructed stories of how we go to extraordinary lengths to keep on living our ordinary lives."--Brock Clarke, author of Who Are You, Calvin Bledsloe? Fiction.

Genres: Short Stories

214 pages, Paperback

Published May 27, 2023

Reviews

[Keith Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A memorable collection of short stories that ranges widely across different locations and through different lives. Perhaps most of them deal with men coming to terms with the inevitable issues of their roles in families, even in societies. I did find a unity here--many of these stories seem to reach for something bigger, something transcendent. I don't think these are acts of faith, more trying to describe a certain kind of hope. I actually had the chance to ask the author about this, and he simply looked puzzled, as if that was not part of his intention at all. But I think that effort really lifts the stories out past the celebration of the ordinary--which is not a bad thing at all! And is a theme where Fulton is absolutely convincing.

[Michael Mcdonough · Rating 5 out of 5]

These stories come from a breadth of perspective - if these characters don’t get over the wounds of the past, they go on anyway, with the people they love. They go on, and may go on to have moments together that touch something magical.

[Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrific collection of short stories about men in relationship-with themselves, their families, their wives, their fathers. Highly recommended.