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North of Ordinary
The long-awaited return of a quintessentially American storyteller
“You’re as likely to be hit twice by lightning on a Monday as see a wood chipper pull a man into its maw.”
So begins North of Ordinary, John Rolfe Gardner’s virtuosic story collection of survivors getting by despite the odds in a shifting world. In these pages, we meet a nervous young apprentice to a weathered tree climber; a dangerously obsessed student at a Southern Bible college; an attractive schemer trying to build an audience for her tiny radio station; an undercover, cross-dressing lawman whose friendship changes the life of a deaf child in a suburban cul-de-sac; and an elderly Black mason whose knowledge of the town’s history harbors truths that shake his visitor’s foundation.
Surprising, touching, and deeply humane, the ten stories of North of Ordinary offer an intimate, revelatory look at our fractured society and pull us together through the power of art.
“You’re as likely to be hit twice by lightning on a Monday as see a wood chipper pull a man into its maw.”
So begins North of Ordinary, John Rolfe Gardner’s virtuosic story collection of survivors getting by despite the odds in a shifting world. In these pages, we meet a nervous young apprentice to a weathered tree climber; a dangerously obsessed student at a Southern Bible college; an attractive schemer trying to build an audience for her tiny radio station; an undercover, cross-dressing lawman whose friendship changes the life of a deaf child in a suburban cul-de-sac; and an elderly Black mason whose knowledge of the town’s history harbors truths that shake his visitor’s foundation.
Surprising, touching, and deeply humane, the ten stories of North of Ordinary offer an intimate, revelatory look at our fractured society and pull us together through the power of art.
- GenresShort Stories
224 pages, Paperback
Published January 14, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 17, 2024
…Gwen believed it was stories that were eternal, not the body or the soul. from North of Ordinary by John Rolfe Gardiner
As I read each story in North of Ordinary, I liked each one best.
They feel real. Consider Their Grandfather’s Clock in which a girl’s Life Class inspires her to ask her mother, “Mom, what do you say when you want Dad to put seeds in you?” I was blindsided by a similar question from my first grade son one morning as I pulled into the church parking lot, late for worship. “Oh, the sweet innocence of a daughter whose Life Class had jumped so far ahead of a mother’s consel,” Gardiner writes.
They are funny. Consider the opening line of the first story: “You’re as likely to be hit twice by lightning as see a wood chipper pull a man into its may.” You laugh, and then are ashamed, considering the dark event implied.
They are surprising. In Freak Corner, a deaf teenaged girl and a neighbor man in his late twenties who has suddenly identified as a woman form a friendship, both victims of harassment. There is an unexpected reveal at the end.
The setting and stories were inspired by overheard conversations and observations from Gardiner’s own home region in Northern Virginia.
The stories each have an illustration that shows hands, reflecting an image from that story.
One of my favorites is “Virgin Summer” about a teenage boy who is an exchange student to France. He is taken in by a family struggling with the legacy of WWII. “Every time a name goes up on the French honor roll, someone comes out of the past to erase it.”
In “Survival”, an aging man’s walk ends with a challenge to his perceived family history.
An enjoyable collection about people just ‘north of ordinary.’
Thanks to the publisher for a free book.
As I read each story in North of Ordinary, I liked each one best.
They feel real. Consider Their Grandfather’s Clock in which a girl’s Life Class inspires her to ask her mother, “Mom, what do you say when you want Dad to put seeds in you?” I was blindsided by a similar question from my first grade son one morning as I pulled into the church parking lot, late for worship. “Oh, the sweet innocence of a daughter whose Life Class had jumped so far ahead of a mother’s consel,” Gardiner writes.
They are funny. Consider the opening line of the first story: “You’re as likely to be hit twice by lightning as see a wood chipper pull a man into its may.” You laugh, and then are ashamed, considering the dark event implied.
They are surprising. In Freak Corner, a deaf teenaged girl and a neighbor man in his late twenties who has suddenly identified as a woman form a friendship, both victims of harassment. There is an unexpected reveal at the end.
The setting and stories were inspired by overheard conversations and observations from Gardiner’s own home region in Northern Virginia.
The stories each have an illustration that shows hands, reflecting an image from that story.
One of my favorites is “Virgin Summer” about a teenage boy who is an exchange student to France. He is taken in by a family struggling with the legacy of WWII. “Every time a name goes up on the French honor roll, someone comes out of the past to erase it.”
In “Survival”, an aging man’s walk ends with a challenge to his perceived family history.
An enjoyable collection about people just ‘north of ordinary.’
Thanks to the publisher for a free book.
unfinished
January 8, 2025I read 5 of 10 stories about young men facing life transitions and enjoyed the title one set at a thinly veiled Liberty University but found the rest dated in outlook; all have too-sudden endings.
December 18, 2024
It’s always harder to review a story collection than a novel. With a novel you can outline one plot, and maybe a subplot, a theme, and a fixed cast of characters. But with a story collection you’ve got maybe ten or more plots, characters, and themes. THAT’S OKAY! That’s what makes short stories so much fun! I wish more people would read them.
Being able to consistently write great stories is an art and a talent that not all writers possess!
Okay, I’m done with my commercial for why you should “read more short stories”!
“North of Ordinary”, has ten stories that are beautifully written, full of unforgettable characters, perfectly paced plots, and amazing twists and insights. Oh, and humor!
A young man taking a semester off from college for mental health reasons joins a tree felling work crew – complete with a nightmare-inducing wood-chipper, and some rough laborers.
A young woman attending a strict Christian college, plays with the affection of an upright young man.
In “Freak Corner”, set in a middle-class neighborhood in Virginia in 1953, we meet an adult transvestite (as she would be called at the time) named Margaret, and our unnamed narrator’s deaf twelve-year-old sister named Gayle. Margaret and Gayle become friends because of their “freakishness” and the constant barrage of bullying they experience for being different.
There’s a poignant story of a declining grandfather and his much younger second wife, visiting his grandchildren in a remote country setting.
I loved “The Man from Trenton” about the irritations of overheard conversations. Erik, an eavesdropping misanthrope and a “quieter vigilante” is often “provoked beyond wise silence” to accost cell phone users. Who can’t relate?
Another favorite, “Familiars” is about two couples who have rented the same coastal house together for seventeen years (in just a handful of pages I felt as if I’d known them all my life) with quite the twist in the end!
AND THERE ARE ILLUSTRATIONS! Beautiful pencil sketch illustrations with each story! Oh, how I wish more adult books would have illustrations.
Thank you to Bellevue Literary Press for this lovely collection.
Being able to consistently write great stories is an art and a talent that not all writers possess!
Okay, I’m done with my commercial for why you should “read more short stories”!
“North of Ordinary”, has ten stories that are beautifully written, full of unforgettable characters, perfectly paced plots, and amazing twists and insights. Oh, and humor!
A young man taking a semester off from college for mental health reasons joins a tree felling work crew – complete with a nightmare-inducing wood-chipper, and some rough laborers.
A young woman attending a strict Christian college, plays with the affection of an upright young man.
In “Freak Corner”, set in a middle-class neighborhood in Virginia in 1953, we meet an adult transvestite (as she would be called at the time) named Margaret, and our unnamed narrator’s deaf twelve-year-old sister named Gayle. Margaret and Gayle become friends because of their “freakishness” and the constant barrage of bullying they experience for being different.
There’s a poignant story of a declining grandfather and his much younger second wife, visiting his grandchildren in a remote country setting.
I loved “The Man from Trenton” about the irritations of overheard conversations. Erik, an eavesdropping misanthrope and a “quieter vigilante” is often “provoked beyond wise silence” to accost cell phone users. Who can’t relate?
Another favorite, “Familiars” is about two couples who have rented the same coastal house together for seventeen years (in just a handful of pages I felt as if I’d known them all my life) with quite the twist in the end!
AND THERE ARE ILLUSTRATIONS! Beautiful pencil sketch illustrations with each story! Oh, how I wish more adult books would have illustrations.
Thank you to Bellevue Literary Press for this lovely collection.
February 18, 2025
Gardiner composes tales in a style that is simple to the point of lacking depth and literary flair. He achieves a few touching moments, but little stands out as overly memorable. These stories amount to sitcom reading: you finish them, say okay, and quickly forget about them. “Ordinary” may be the best way to describe North of Ordinary.
May 9, 2025
An enjoyable collection of short stories. His writing is compelling without being flowery. Most are set in the rural areas of Northern Virginia i.e Middleburg and environs.
January 21, 2025
3.5
I don't often read short story collections, but this book was quite aptly titled because its stories are truly "north of ordinary." I was captivated by the first story about a young man who doubts his own abilities until he is shown unexpected kindness by an unlikely mentor. Another favorite was the deaf child who gave and received kindness and acceptance from a transvestite neighbor. These are all ordinary people living ordinary lives, many of whom are transformed by extraordinary kindnesses and life events.
My thanks to LibraryThing and the publisher for the opportunity to read this noteworthy book, which I may have otherwise bypassed.
I don't often read short story collections, but this book was quite aptly titled because its stories are truly "north of ordinary." I was captivated by the first story about a young man who doubts his own abilities until he is shown unexpected kindness by an unlikely mentor. Another favorite was the deaf child who gave and received kindness and acceptance from a transvestite neighbor. These are all ordinary people living ordinary lives, many of whom are transformed by extraordinary kindnesses and life events.
My thanks to LibraryThing and the publisher for the opportunity to read this noteworthy book, which I may have otherwise bypassed.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews