Sour Cherries at Buc-ee’s

by Mark Elberfeld

What do sour cherries, a subway reprimand in Moscow, and an imaginary alligator named Fluffy have in common? In Sour Cherries at Buc-ee’s, Mark Elberfeld invites readers on a deeply personal—and often unexpectedly funny—journey through memory, movement, and meaning.

From a seventh-grade retreat on the Mattaponi River to the surreal vastness of a Buc-ee’s gas station, Elberfeld traces the threads of identity, place, and connection. Whether he’s reflecting on summer camp, road trips in an electric car, the quiet radicalism of hospitality, or a friend’s hauntingly beautiful art show, his essays linger in that liminal space between the ordinary and the profound.

With humor, honesty, and a teacher’s instinct for drawing meaning from mess, Elberfeld explores what it means to leave, to return, to remember, and to reframe. For anyone who’s ever found themselves crying in a parking lot, questioning the shape of freedom, or chasing summer like a white whale—this book might just be the life ring you didn’t know you needed.

"In Mark Elberfeld's Sour Cherries, we meet something to an unrelenting mind on the page. Here, we travel to summer camp, to Switzerland, to Vermont, and that dreaded chemistry class. Humorous and meditative, Sour Cherries ponders that age-old Why must we travel away to really understand who we are, at home, in ourselves? Building in tension, with wide-ranging material from Frankenstein and Walt Whitman to Shawna Miller and getting a rental car, Sour Cherries is a delight that explores all the complexities of human emotion."

--Taylor Brorby, author of Boys and Growing Up Gay in a Fractured Land

"[C]aught as we all are in this politically divisive moment, as distrust and cynicism hold sway, Elberfeld’s sensibilities could not be more timely or necessary. The writer’s curiosity and good-will, whether among friends or strangers, offer the rare alternative of civility across difference."

--Laurie Clark

140 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 16, 2025

About the author

Atlanta writer Mark Elberfeld began his essay collection Sour Cherries at Buc-ee's—appropriately on the theme of journeys—at a remote chateau in tiny Orquevaux, France. Educated at the University of the South, Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English, and Georgia State University, Mark previously taught sixth grade in the Washington, D.C. area, where he grew up, and in Budapest, Hungary. His work has appeared in NANO Fiction, the Centenary Journal of the Bread Loaf School of English, South Writ Large, and Voices Elevated: 10 Years of the Elk River Writers Workshop. He has also been nominated for publication in Best American Essays. A facilitator and executive coach, Mark lives with his husband, Russell, and their calico, Sophie. Sour Cherries at Buc-ee's is his first book.

Reviews

[BooksAsDreams (Tiffany) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you Net Galley for the ARC! This is an essay collection that needs to be a hard copy (I read it on my phone). There are so many gems to underline, rewrite, and return to again and again. Love the inclusion of the photos and the reference to sources at the end. Both add a nice dimension to the writing.

[bella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you, Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book

I am generally guilty of picking up books without reading the description and basing my reading choices solely on vibes, as I like for my books to surprise me. This is a book that I wouldn't have picked up on my own, but I really enjoyed.

I enjoyed reading about the heartfelt moments of going to camp growing up, as well as the moments in chemistry class. My favorite of the stories was Ms. Balsham and the impact that she had on the author's upbringing. She was an unqualified teacher, but she found meaningful ways to impart lasting lessons to her students that they'd carry with them throughout life.

I've never read a book so focused on travel before and was unsure what to expect from this genre. It was not at all what I expected it to be. I really enjoyed reading about the lessons that could only have been learned by experiencing the specific places the author had visited.

[Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was looking for a new book to read and was pursuing NetGalley since I have the time to read right now. The cover just grabbed me. That is usually the way it goes. It was a “read now” book and honestly I thought with a glorious cover like that sure.

What strikes me about this collection of essays is the honesty and joy. The author visits so many amazing journeys from his past and currents its just really a joy to read. I read each chapter individually not continuing from one to another. They truly stand alone. I took a moment after reading each chapter and thought about where the author was in the chapter, what he learned, what he shared and it made it that much more delicious for me.

I didn’t want it to be over. It really is a nice collection of essays,
I am glad that I was given the opportunity to read it.

[Abby Aguilera · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of advance copy received from Netgalley.

I really love a collection of essays. I love collections of essays even more when they are about just everyday mundane parts of life. Mark Elberfeld did this so well. He says early in the book that many of his recent essays have explored the space between "leaving and coming back, going away and then remembering." This is the exact phase of life I am in and I reveled in Mr. Elberfeld doing the same. His thoughts on travel, summer camp, people who passed on and life resonated with me deeply. I will be using this for reader's advisory.

I was given the opportunity to read this title by NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Charlsie Graves · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m a sucker for essay collections written by & through Southern connections (almost as much as I am for sour cherries), so this cover immediately stood out to me. I was delighted to discover stories with such range, drawing upon a well-lived life rife with travels and experiences. I too went to a small liberal arts college not far from Sewanee and found myself being both transported back to intellectual discourse and literary analysis of that time in my life, allowing me to simultaneously find sweet nostalgia & an appreciation for personal growth. Grateful to NetGalley & Atmosphere Press for the ARC.