Fat Boy: A Short Memoir

by Dayne Sherman

If David Sedaris and John Grisham collaborated on the comic memoir of a kid’s first job, and Quentin Tarantino rewrote it as a noir masterwork, then “Fat Boy” would be that memoir. This short memoir retells the surreal insanity of Dayne Sherman’s life at fifteen years of age, showing the jaggedness of living on the margins of society in Livingston Parish, Louisiana, death all around. The boy, now an author, was shaped by the experiences of working on the roadsides along with local ruffians. There is no quarter asked or given on these dusty byways, and no one will ever be the same traveling alone or together.

"Fat Boy" was first published in the Arkansas Review at Arkansas State University.

33 pages, Kindle Edition

Published August 17, 2016

About the author

Dayne Sherman is a high school dropout. He has worked a variety of jobs as a grocery store clerk, carpenter's helper, door-to-door rat poison distributor, watermelon salesman, itinerant Baptist preacher, English as a second language teacher in Russia, fitness instructor, and most recently as a reference librarian (full professor of library science). At 18 years old, he took the GED and went to the university in his hometown. A member of Phi Kappa Phi, Sherman earned master's degrees from LSU and Southeastern Louisiana University.

Zion is Sherman's latest novel, a Southern mystery. His first novel, Welcome to the Fallen Paradise, was published released in 2004. It was named a Best Debut of the Year by The Times-Picayune and a Notable Book by Book Sense. Recently, Welcome to the Fallen Paradise was the sole "Louisiana" pick for Booklist's "Hard-Boiled Gazetteer to Country Noir."

His writing has appeared in many literary magazines, and one of his short stories was nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Sherman lives in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, with his wife and son. His website is daynesherman.com.

Reviews

[tyRonE hArDing · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not good at all.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am taking an English class this semester, and we got the eBook for free as a member of the class. This book is gross, which is a good thing. Sherman's descriptions are so perfect, you think what's happening to Fat Boy is actually happening to you. If you want to be grossed out and laugh at the same time, then read Fat Boy by Dayne Sherman.