Atlas: Short Stories by Connor Coyne

by Connor Coyne, Sam Perkins-Harbin (Illustrator)

Twins born to an ex-autoworker and a forest spirit seek their place in the world. An aging widower sets out on a journey through time and space to reunite with his wife. An eccentric billionaire destroys human civilization by causing the earth to rotate from north to south. In this collection of thirteen essays and short stories and thirty pieces of flash fiction, Flint-based author Connor Coyne explores the surreal, the macabre, and, above all, the poignant transience of life in a world that seems to change before our very eyes. The whole collection is bookended by meditations on one of Flint and Michigan's most enduring gifts to the larger world: the Flint-Style Coney Island. The title and cover are an homage to the Atlas Coney Island Restaurant, itself a longtime Flint institution. General Motors may not be making nearly as many cars there as it used to, but there is no better place to eat encased meats topped with more meat. Atlas features selections written between 2006 and 2015. Some selections have been previously published in journals including the Santa Clara Review, Moria Poetry Zine, the Moomers Journal of Moomers Studies, and elsewhere.

Genres: Fiction

120 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2015

About the author

Connor Coyne is a writer living and working in Flint, Michigan.

He's published several novels, including the award winning serial novel Urbantasm, as well as a short story collection. His work has been featured in Vox.com, Belt Magazine, and elsewhere. He lives with his wife, two daughters, and a geriatric rabbit in Flint's College Cultural Neighborhood (aka the East Village), less than a mile from the house where he grew up.