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Road to Cosmos: The Faces of An American Town
In his second short story collection, Bill Meissner explores the consciousness of Cosmos, U.S.A, a small town that is anything but ordinary. Though it has its share of residents intent on keeping the world on an even keel, Cosmos is blessed with a healthy number of eccentrics who are chasing their dreams, idiosyncratic as they may be, or struggling to distinguish themselves as individuals. We meet Duane, hoping to build a replica of Stonehenge with salvaged cars; Norm, the local weatherman, longing to be the first person to film the inside of a tornado; Elmo, a groundskeeper, seeking perfection on his baseball field; and Dolores―convinced Elvis is still alive―attempting to overcome the pain of her husband's desertion. Threaded through the collection are poignant childhood memories told through the voice of Skip Carrigan, a native son, who left and returned years later. Skip's stories chronicle a sometimes tender, sometimes stormy relationship with his father; through Skip's mature perspective, Meissner artfully comments on the growth and change of America itself during recent decades. The residents of Cosmos orbit the town like planets, some of them pulling away, others moving ever closer to its center. Cosmos, though a small Midwestern town, contains universal characters, each of them struggling to find order, love, and identity amid the chaos of their lives.
204 pages, Paperback
First published November 15, 2006
6 people want to read
About the author
Bill Meissner
15 books18 followersWriter and teacher Bill Meissner is the author of 12 books. Meissner's recent novel, THE WONDERS OF THE LITTLE WORLD, is a delightful story that features a fortune-telling woman in a suffocating carnival who, with her precocious 11-year-old daughter, embarks on a search for her missing husband, a tightrope walker. THE WONDERS OF THE LITTLE WORLD will entertain the reader like a free-wheeling thrill ride at the carnival that leads straight to the heart. The novel is part road trip, part love story, and, ultimately, an illumination of a family yearning to heal itself. The novel was published Jan./Feb. 2024 from Stephen F. Austin State University Press/Texas A & M. University Press
His previous novel, SUMMER OF RAIN, SUMMER OF FIRE, was published in 2022. It's a family drama/love story set during the turbulent late-1960s Vietnam era. The characters--who find themselves in conflict with themselves and society--include Karl, a dominant pro-war father, Phil, a passive 18-year-old son who falls in love with Mariah, a rebellious young woman, and Frances, a mother coping with her role as a subservient 1960s housewife.
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His first novel is SPIRITS IN THE GRASS, (U of Notre Dame Press), the story of a small-town ballplayer who discovers the remains of a Native American burial ground on a baseball field. The novel was awarded The Midwest Book Award.
His most recent short story collection is LIGHT AT THE EDGE OF THE FIELD, and his book of baseball photographs and prose is CIRCLING TOWARD HOME: GRASSROOTS BASEBALL PROSE, MEDITATIONS, AND IMAGERY.
His most recent poetry books are THE MAPMAKER'S DREAM (Finishing Line Press) and AMERICAN COMPASS [Univ. of Notre Dame Press].
Meissner grew up in Iowa and Wisconsin and was the Director of Creative Writing at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. He acts as a writing coach & presents creative writing workshops in schools, colleges, and in the community. He occasionally appears at public events and types poems on demand on one of his vintage typewriters.
The UND Press and Stephen F. Austin State U. Press recommend SUMMER OF RAIN, SUMMER OF FIRE, SPIRITS IN THE GRASS, and THE WONDERS OF THE LITTLE WORLD as excellent titles for book clubs, reading groups, and classroom use.
His previous novel, SUMMER OF RAIN, SUMMER OF FIRE, was published in 2022. It's a family drama/love story set during the turbulent late-1960s Vietnam era. The characters--who find themselves in conflict with themselves and society--include Karl, a dominant pro-war father, Phil, a passive 18-year-old son who falls in love with Mariah, a rebellious young woman, and Frances, a mother coping with her role as a subservient 1960s housewife.
.
His first novel is SPIRITS IN THE GRASS, (U of Notre Dame Press), the story of a small-town ballplayer who discovers the remains of a Native American burial ground on a baseball field. The novel was awarded The Midwest Book Award.
His most recent short story collection is LIGHT AT THE EDGE OF THE FIELD, and his book of baseball photographs and prose is CIRCLING TOWARD HOME: GRASSROOTS BASEBALL PROSE, MEDITATIONS, AND IMAGERY.
His most recent poetry books are THE MAPMAKER'S DREAM (Finishing Line Press) and AMERICAN COMPASS [Univ. of Notre Dame Press].
Meissner grew up in Iowa and Wisconsin and was the Director of Creative Writing at St. Cloud State University in Minnesota. He acts as a writing coach & presents creative writing workshops in schools, colleges, and in the community. He occasionally appears at public events and types poems on demand on one of his vintage typewriters.
The UND Press and Stephen F. Austin State U. Press recommend SUMMER OF RAIN, SUMMER OF FIRE, SPIRITS IN THE GRASS, and THE WONDERS OF THE LITTLE WORLD as excellent titles for book clubs, reading groups, and classroom use.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 6, 2021
3.5 stars
This book was lovely, but I think I just wasn’t in the mood for a short story collection. I’ve read another of Meissner’s short story collections Hitting Into The Wind. The stories in Road to Cosmos have the same lingering ache of lyricism that I absolutely adore. And naturally, some of my favorite stories from this collection were also about baseball. It’s just so easy to be romantic about baseball. But there were also several stories at the end about fatherhood and growing up that felt so precise.
This collection describes several residents of the small, Midwestern town of Cosmos. As someone who’s extremely risk-averse with a needlepoint comfort zone (and is also from and currently living in the Midwest), I found some of these themes to strike particularly close to home. I felt that a lot of the characters struggled with compromise—wanting something more than what their little town is able to offer, but not wanting to step outside the town that made them, the home that is still coursing through their veins. Definitely a collection to reflect on and think about.
This book was lovely, but I think I just wasn’t in the mood for a short story collection. I’ve read another of Meissner’s short story collections Hitting Into The Wind. The stories in Road to Cosmos have the same lingering ache of lyricism that I absolutely adore. And naturally, some of my favorite stories from this collection were also about baseball. It’s just so easy to be romantic about baseball. But there were also several stories at the end about fatherhood and growing up that felt so precise.
This collection describes several residents of the small, Midwestern town of Cosmos. As someone who’s extremely risk-averse with a needlepoint comfort zone (and is also from and currently living in the Midwest), I found some of these themes to strike particularly close to home. I felt that a lot of the characters struggled with compromise—wanting something more than what their little town is able to offer, but not wanting to step outside the town that made them, the home that is still coursing through their veins. Definitely a collection to reflect on and think about.
July 6, 2014
I spent nearly every evening for nearly a month reading just one or two stories from Meissner's book, absorbing the characters of a small Midwestern town as they told their personal joys and tragedies, much like the classic Spoon River Anthology, only with more smiles, and more development. Skip, for instance, serves as a kind of narrator, conveying how his life, from boyhood on through adulthood, engaged with the characters of his town. He has lived through the times of my own life, with details and experiences common to my own. There are many other characters too that tell their own stories, and it's easy to get sucked into their narratives. Meissner writes with an ear for the nuances of language and exploits it, moving swiftly between the literal and the poetically suggestive. A concise but emotive quality that so often borders on nostalgia, the good kind. I'm a fan, for sure, and this slice of American life is well worth the read.
July 30, 2010
Enjoyed the small town, midwest characters.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews