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Signals: New and Selected Stories
A widely celebrated novelist gives us a generous collection of exhilarating short stories, proving that he is a master of this genre as well. Once again, "he reminds us," wrote The Miami Herald, "that great writing is a timeless art."
After the stunning historical novels The Clearing and The Missing, Tim Gautreaux now ranges freely through contemporary life with twelve new stories and eight from previous collections. Most are set in his beloved Louisiana, many hard by or on the Mississippi River, others in North Carolina and even in midwinter Minnesota. But generally it's heat, humidity, and bugs that beset his people as they wrestle with affairs of the heart, matters of faith, and the pros and cons of tight-knit communities--a remarkable cast of characters, primarily of the working class, proud and knowledgeable about the natural or mechanical world, their lives marked by a prized stereo or a magical sewing machine retrieved from a locked safe, boats and card games and casinos, grandparents and grandchildren and those in between, their experiences leading them to the ridiculous or the scarifying or the sublime; most of them striving for what's right and good, others tearing off in the opposite direction.
After the stunning historical novels The Clearing and The Missing, Tim Gautreaux now ranges freely through contemporary life with twelve new stories and eight from previous collections. Most are set in his beloved Louisiana, many hard by or on the Mississippi River, others in North Carolina and even in midwinter Minnesota. But generally it's heat, humidity, and bugs that beset his people as they wrestle with affairs of the heart, matters of faith, and the pros and cons of tight-knit communities--a remarkable cast of characters, primarily of the working class, proud and knowledgeable about the natural or mechanical world, their lives marked by a prized stereo or a magical sewing machine retrieved from a locked safe, boats and card games and casinos, grandparents and grandchildren and those in between, their experiences leading them to the ridiculous or the scarifying or the sublime; most of them striving for what's right and good, others tearing off in the opposite direction.
364 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 17, 2017
68 people are currently reading
1015 people want to read
About the author
Tim Gautreaux
29 books202 followersTimothy Martin Gautreaux (born 1947 in Morgan City, Louisiana) is a novelist and short story writer who lives in Hammond, Louisiana, where he is Writer in Residence at Southeastern Louisiana University.
His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Best American Short Stories, Atlantic, Harper's, and GQ. His novel The Next Step in the Dance won the 1999 SEBA Book Award. His novel The Clearing won the 1999 Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance SIBA Book Award and the 2003 Mid-South Independent Booksellers Association Award. He also won the 2005 John Dos Passos Prize.
Gautreaux also authored Same Place, Same Things and Welding with Children—collections of short stories. His 2009 novel The Missing was described as his "best yet" by New Orleans Times-Picayune book editor Susan Larson in a featured article.
Gautreaux notes that his family’s blue-collar background has been a significant influence on his writing. His father was a tugboat captain, and his grandfather was a steamboat engineer. Given those influences, he says, “I pride myself in writing a ‘broad-spectrum’ fiction, fiction that appeals to both intellectuals and blue-collar types. Many times I’ve heard stories of people who don’t read short stories, or people who have technical jobs, who like my fiction.”
In addition, Gautreaux has made clear that he is not interested in being classified as a "Southern writer," preferring instead to say that he is a "writer who happens to live in the South." He is much more comfortable embracing his Roman Catholicism, saying, "I've always been a Roman Catholic, since baptism, since birth."
His writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Best American Short Stories, Atlantic, Harper's, and GQ. His novel The Next Step in the Dance won the 1999 SEBA Book Award. His novel The Clearing won the 1999 Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance SIBA Book Award and the 2003 Mid-South Independent Booksellers Association Award. He also won the 2005 John Dos Passos Prize.
Gautreaux also authored Same Place, Same Things and Welding with Children—collections of short stories. His 2009 novel The Missing was described as his "best yet" by New Orleans Times-Picayune book editor Susan Larson in a featured article.
Gautreaux notes that his family’s blue-collar background has been a significant influence on his writing. His father was a tugboat captain, and his grandfather was a steamboat engineer. Given those influences, he says, “I pride myself in writing a ‘broad-spectrum’ fiction, fiction that appeals to both intellectuals and blue-collar types. Many times I’ve heard stories of people who don’t read short stories, or people who have technical jobs, who like my fiction.”
In addition, Gautreaux has made clear that he is not interested in being classified as a "Southern writer," preferring instead to say that he is a "writer who happens to live in the South." He is much more comfortable embracing his Roman Catholicism, saying, "I've always been a Roman Catholic, since baptism, since birth."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
July 29, 2019
Do not be deceived by the length of these short stories. They run the gamut from deep and thought provoking to out and out humor. Some are merely simple slices of life. Whatever the subject matter, they are all beautifully written. From the aftermath of a bad root canal to a nightmare of a fixer-upper, and the notion that a library is lost when an old person dies. Priests in the confessional with problems of their own, putting together a science project, small wins, coincidental connections, and getting unstuck. My favorites were The Furnace Man's Lament, Easy Pickings, Sorry Blood, and The Bug Man.
'He was a historian who repeated his own history, learning nothing in the process.'
'He was a historian who repeated his own history, learning nothing in the process.'
March 30, 2019
3.5
This collection contains some very good stories, but also too many that are ‘meh,’ though most of the latter have great endings. Even reading one per night, they quickly started to feel repetitive and formulaic. For example, the priest in "Attitude Adjustment" was damaged in an accident. The priest in “Good for the Soul” is an alcoholic and causes an accident. They both get in trouble with the law. The collection should've been smaller.
Gautreaux’s short-story formula seems to be of a fix-it person helping a lonely person. The best of the stories with that formula are the title story and “Resistance.” In the latter, though it was predictable plot-wise, the relationship between the two main characters was more subtle than usual, as who is the fix-it person and who is the lonely one fluctuates.
I’d read the story “Welding with Children” before and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time. The voice is so good; and the story is without the too-muchness (fix-it details and lists) that Gautreaux employs in others. In some he takes his humor one step too far, but not in “Welding...” The interactions between the narrator and the grandkids are perfect: hilarious and poignant at the same time—like laughing out loud with a sob at the end.
That I can easily name all the stories I like most out of a collection of twenty-one proves, to me at least, that the collection needed some trimming.
This collection contains some very good stories, but also too many that are ‘meh,’ though most of the latter have great endings. Even reading one per night, they quickly started to feel repetitive and formulaic. For example, the priest in "Attitude Adjustment" was damaged in an accident. The priest in “Good for the Soul” is an alcoholic and causes an accident. They both get in trouble with the law. The collection should've been smaller.
Gautreaux’s short-story formula seems to be of a fix-it person helping a lonely person. The best of the stories with that formula are the title story and “Resistance.” In the latter, though it was predictable plot-wise, the relationship between the two main characters was more subtle than usual, as who is the fix-it person and who is the lonely one fluctuates.
I’d read the story “Welding with Children” before and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time. The voice is so good; and the story is without the too-muchness (fix-it details and lists) that Gautreaux employs in others. In some he takes his humor one step too far, but not in “Welding...” The interactions between the narrator and the grandkids are perfect: hilarious and poignant at the same time—like laughing out loud with a sob at the end.
That I can easily name all the stories I like most out of a collection of twenty-one proves, to me at least, that the collection needed some trimming.
April 3, 2017
Wow. This is another of the few books to which I would give six or seven stars if it were possible.
Signals is a book of short stories by Tim Gautreaux, and it should be on EVERYONE's reading list, no matter how many or few books you read a year. It should be on TBR bookshelves and assigned in every English and writing course. Gautreaux is the chess grandmaster of the short story. Each story, set mostly in Louisiana but some elsewhere, has quirky, interesting characters--lovely, humane, men- and women-of-the-world. Each story is just the right length and in each, the main character faces a turning point or situation that tests his or her humanity. Not all have upbeat or funny endings, but readers will walk away from this book feeling educated, emotionally in tune, and just better about our fellow humans.
Time-pressed readers can easily stop and start since the book is a collection of short stories.
Do yourself a huge favor and read this book of wonderful short stories by Tim Gautreaux.
Signals is a book of short stories by Tim Gautreaux, and it should be on EVERYONE's reading list, no matter how many or few books you read a year. It should be on TBR bookshelves and assigned in every English and writing course. Gautreaux is the chess grandmaster of the short story. Each story, set mostly in Louisiana but some elsewhere, has quirky, interesting characters--lovely, humane, men- and women-of-the-world. Each story is just the right length and in each, the main character faces a turning point or situation that tests his or her humanity. Not all have upbeat or funny endings, but readers will walk away from this book feeling educated, emotionally in tune, and just better about our fellow humans.
Time-pressed readers can easily stop and start since the book is a collection of short stories.
Do yourself a huge favor and read this book of wonderful short stories by Tim Gautreaux.
June 1, 2018
I know a lot of people don't like short stories, for various reasons, but I have found that a collection of stories is perfect for those parts of your day when you only have 15 or 20 minutes to read, or at bedtime when you know you'll be nodding off before too long. These go on my "long read" shelf, because it may take a while.
That's how I read SIGNALS. Here's what I can promise you about this book:
1. You're going to get a good, solid story. None of this esoteric, leave you hanging type of ending. Just a good story.
2. You're going to love these characters and their voices.
3. You will laugh. Sometimes uncontrollably. "Gone to Vegas" is about a group of card players trying to tell the biggest lie. I'm still laughing.
Here's my favorite quote. "I called her up, but she was a southerner, so I had to ask about her Mama for a while before we could get down to business". I love this guy.
That's how I read SIGNALS. Here's what I can promise you about this book:
1. You're going to get a good, solid story. None of this esoteric, leave you hanging type of ending. Just a good story.
2. You're going to love these characters and their voices.
3. You will laugh. Sometimes uncontrollably. "Gone to Vegas" is about a group of card players trying to tell the biggest lie. I'm still laughing.
Here's my favorite quote. "I called her up, but she was a southerner, so I had to ask about her Mama for a while before we could get down to business". I love this guy.
November 11, 2017
Gautreaux (Go-troe) is a master of Southern literature, and I'm glad to see he has broadened his recent story telling to geographies other than my home of Louisiana. But yes - he is still the voice of the contemporary South. Humorous and laughing a bit at himself, but a teller of some pathos too, he makes each of the stories in this collection pull us in.
My least favorite was the tale of a gent who comes out of Walmart one late afternoon and finds himself staring at the glittering, enameled rooftops of hundreds of cars. Where did he park again? Which of the family cars did he drive over that day? Hmmm...
I cannot say how many times I've had to hoist my car keys overhead to boop-boop my vehicle's location in the lot. You too? In this instance, the confused old man instead is hailed by a beefy middle ager sitting in his hot car, gnawing on his lunch. Sweated up and overweight, this stranger chunks the sausage wrapper into his back seat and says, "For God's sake, Dad. Get in the damn car."
Not for the first time, the man does not know what his son looks like anymore...cannot even remember his boy's voice, let alone his name. He gets in, and as they return to the filthy hovel called home, he is given a shovel and told to get to work digging out a new drainage ditch. He has to earn his keep, after all.
It won't take you long as a reader to realize that this con artist is not the man's son. Kidnapped by a stranger and held hostage by dementia, he works and works and works in the heat.
You don't need to know how this particular tale resolves itself to feel uncomfortable. But the joyful stories were equal in their ability to make the reader feel and love and laugh and cry.
Go for Gautreaux if you want several slices of southern pecan pie to go with your Thanksgiving this year. Every bite is excellent.
My least favorite was the tale of a gent who comes out of Walmart one late afternoon and finds himself staring at the glittering, enameled rooftops of hundreds of cars. Where did he park again? Which of the family cars did he drive over that day? Hmmm...
I cannot say how many times I've had to hoist my car keys overhead to boop-boop my vehicle's location in the lot. You too? In this instance, the confused old man instead is hailed by a beefy middle ager sitting in his hot car, gnawing on his lunch. Sweated up and overweight, this stranger chunks the sausage wrapper into his back seat and says, "For God's sake, Dad. Get in the damn car."
Not for the first time, the man does not know what his son looks like anymore...cannot even remember his boy's voice, let alone his name. He gets in, and as they return to the filthy hovel called home, he is given a shovel and told to get to work digging out a new drainage ditch. He has to earn his keep, after all.
It won't take you long as a reader to realize that this con artist is not the man's son. Kidnapped by a stranger and held hostage by dementia, he works and works and works in the heat.
You don't need to know how this particular tale resolves itself to feel uncomfortable. But the joyful stories were equal in their ability to make the reader feel and love and laugh and cry.
Go for Gautreaux if you want several slices of southern pecan pie to go with your Thanksgiving this year. Every bite is excellent.
January 30, 2019
Tim Gautreaux's writing is refreshingly straightforward. His stories accumulate one detail after another, with such a gripping attention to each perfect observation, one after another, that I accept these stories as fact as I read.
Gautreaux's characters are working-class tragic--not in the 'heroic working man' tradition of Steinbeck, though, because they never slip into archetype; Gautreaux's characters instead always remain deeply individual. His characters remain tiny, and flawed, and trapped in frequently horrific circumstances; and yet even so, somehow they reflect a philosophy where each individual deserves our compassion and understanding.
There is such a steady, unerring stream of terrific but entirely unornamented prose here that it's easy to forget how hard it is to write this way. So much of contemporary American fiction is exaggerated or inflated or excessively hysterical or heavily ornamented in some way, where characters are out-sized and unrealistic, that I've tuned out, a little, how writing doesn't always need to be fortissimo. Reading this collection was like coming home to a place that I'd forgotten existed.
For people not familiar w. Gautreaux, here is a link to a story, SHEEP, that is -not- in this collection, but is made available online from The Atlantic magazine, and was originally published by the great fiction editor Michael Curtis:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...
I highly recommend Gautreaux's collection, along with everything else he ever published.
Also, everyone should subscribe to the Atlantic, just on principle.
Gautreaux's characters are working-class tragic--not in the 'heroic working man' tradition of Steinbeck, though, because they never slip into archetype; Gautreaux's characters instead always remain deeply individual. His characters remain tiny, and flawed, and trapped in frequently horrific circumstances; and yet even so, somehow they reflect a philosophy where each individual deserves our compassion and understanding.
There is such a steady, unerring stream of terrific but entirely unornamented prose here that it's easy to forget how hard it is to write this way. So much of contemporary American fiction is exaggerated or inflated or excessively hysterical or heavily ornamented in some way, where characters are out-sized and unrealistic, that I've tuned out, a little, how writing doesn't always need to be fortissimo. Reading this collection was like coming home to a place that I'd forgotten existed.
For people not familiar w. Gautreaux, here is a link to a story, SHEEP, that is -not- in this collection, but is made available online from The Atlantic magazine, and was originally published by the great fiction editor Michael Curtis:
https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/...
I highly recommend Gautreaux's collection, along with everything else he ever published.
Also, everyone should subscribe to the Atlantic, just on principle.
February 12, 2018
I absolutely loved this book of short stories. There were some stories that were so clever and hilarious that you could not help from laughing out loud. My favorites were Attitude Adjustment (funny), Sorry Blood, Deputy Sid's Gift, The Bug Man, Easy Pickings (made me "cackle"), Good for the Soul, Died and Gone to Vegas (too many funny lines to even mention) and The Safe. I read and listened to the stories simultaneously and I highly recommend the audio. I first heard a portion of Attitude Adjustment read by the author and that encouraged me to check out the audio version. The narrator does a great job. Highly recommend to anybody!
Attached is interview with T. Gautreaux:
https://chapter16.org/the-choice-eith...
Attached is interview with T. Gautreaux:
https://chapter16.org/the-choice-eith...
September 22, 2019
I will read anything this man writes, he’s simply one of my favorites. These stories have a place and time, in southern Louisiana, small towns, around oil refineries. Though completely different in locale, these stories by Gautreaux bring to mind Raymond Carver, where ordinary people in ordinary circumstance are depicted in minute detail. The inner life and dialogue of elderly and despondent are brought to life. But these are rarely bleak, and the people have lively senses of humor, and boy can this author spin a tale (through his characters). It’s a beautiful morning here in Missouri, as I sit alone with dogs on back porch and the sun is rising. But my heart is heavy as a child of mine is going through some troubles. So I’m just going to wrap this review up for now. I am not giving this five star book justice by this brief review.
March 11, 2017
I liked all the stories in this collection. They exactly the kind of stories that I enjoy: well-constructed and classic with well-defined setting and characters, and a plot in which something happens and someone changes, at least a bit. I especially liked the last story in the collection, “What We Don’t See In the Light,” about an man who must move to the southwest after he retires because his lungs can’t take the Louisiana pollution and humidity any more. His wife wants no part of moving and stays behind in Baton Rouge. Joe finds some peace and perspective in New Mexico, and Lorena undergoes some surprising changes, too, without him.
The stories were a little repetitive in their setting and characters for me. I probably should have sampled the stories over a long period of time, rather than reading them all in a week (but it was a library book so…). Almost all of the stories take place in Louisiana, where the author taught for many years. Almost all of them are about working class people, most of whom suffer from downward mobility, despair, loneliness, just plain stupidity, or all of the above. Each of the characters is very unique and individual, though, and Gautreaux is a master of coming up with well-plotted dilemnas for his characters.
The advantage of reading all of the stories in the space of a week or so was that some subtler themes emerged for me. Gautreaux, I think, is writing a lot about limits. For example, in one of my other favorite stories, “The Furnace Man’s Lament” a furnace repairman takes an orphaned boy under his wing….sort of. He misses an opportunity by not extending himself further. For Gautreaux’s characters, the limits are closer and harsher than for those of us in the middle and upper-middle classes. Their funds are limits – they run out of money for repairing an old family home, or for gambling. They run up against limits on generosity, or self-control, or their own ability to change. In most of the stories, there is a bit of comic relief. In some, there is a glimpse of hope, a slight shift. But, mostly, these stories are tragedies, not in the classic Greek sense of a great hero defeated by his own hubris, but the smaller tragedies of simple people whose limited resources are overwhelmed by circumstances.
Like my reviews? Check out my blog at http://www.kathrynbashaar.com/blog/
Author of The Saint's Mistress: http://synergebooks.com/ebook_saintsm...
The stories were a little repetitive in their setting and characters for me. I probably should have sampled the stories over a long period of time, rather than reading them all in a week (but it was a library book so…). Almost all of the stories take place in Louisiana, where the author taught for many years. Almost all of them are about working class people, most of whom suffer from downward mobility, despair, loneliness, just plain stupidity, or all of the above. Each of the characters is very unique and individual, though, and Gautreaux is a master of coming up with well-plotted dilemnas for his characters.
The advantage of reading all of the stories in the space of a week or so was that some subtler themes emerged for me. Gautreaux, I think, is writing a lot about limits. For example, in one of my other favorite stories, “The Furnace Man’s Lament” a furnace repairman takes an orphaned boy under his wing….sort of. He misses an opportunity by not extending himself further. For Gautreaux’s characters, the limits are closer and harsher than for those of us in the middle and upper-middle classes. Their funds are limits – they run out of money for repairing an old family home, or for gambling. They run up against limits on generosity, or self-control, or their own ability to change. In most of the stories, there is a bit of comic relief. In some, there is a glimpse of hope, a slight shift. But, mostly, these stories are tragedies, not in the classic Greek sense of a great hero defeated by his own hubris, but the smaller tragedies of simple people whose limited resources are overwhelmed by circumstances.
Like my reviews? Check out my blog at http://www.kathrynbashaar.com/blog/
Author of The Saint's Mistress: http://synergebooks.com/ebook_saintsm...
January 28, 2025
Surprisingly captivating. The 21 short stories in this book almost all take place in small towns in Louisiana, featuring ordinary people as the main characters. They repair stoves, help with pest control, or are writers who tirelessly churn out work that isn’t very good.
Tim Gaultreaux uses these hidden characters to observe and approach others or themselves. In these tenuous relationships, a priest who likes to drink tries to help but ends up causing trouble; an elderly man with Alzheimer's gets lost and ends up doing heavy labor at a stranger's house; a stove repairman thinks he’s saved a child but ends up unable to save himself; a thin-skinned writer confronts a critical reader over a one-star review, only to find that the reader’s published novels are far superior...
Each story has different plots, but generally, they all involve the observer discovering or readjusting themselves through their relationships with others. < >Gaultreaux skillfully uses changes in the external world to drive the story forward. For example, in The Story of a Book Review, lightning appears twice. The first time is when the thin-skinned writer is reading reviews on Amazon, oblivious to the lightning strike in his backyard; the second time is on his way to confront the critical reader, where a ball of lightning explodes at the edge of his vision. ”He couldn't help but imagine the lightning as bad reviews on Amazon—random and meaningless attacks." The ignored lightning now brings terrible associations, indicating his sensitive nerves are even more exaggerated after the "bad review incident." This second lightning also foreshadows the failure of his second work.
Adversity is the backdrop for each story in this book - bankruptcy, broken families, collapsing houses, even near-death experiences due to alcoholism or severe illness. Gaultreaux doesn’t offer better options; he just lets them play a beautiful tune, tidy up their backyards and set up a tire swing for their grandchildren, or gaze at diamond-like stars in the New Mexico desert, recalling the taste of iced watermelon.
3.9 / 5 stars
Tim Gaultreaux uses these hidden characters to observe and approach others or themselves. In these tenuous relationships, a priest who likes to drink tries to help but ends up causing trouble; an elderly man with Alzheimer's gets lost and ends up doing heavy labor at a stranger's house; a stove repairman thinks he’s saved a child but ends up unable to save himself; a thin-skinned writer confronts a critical reader over a one-star review, only to find that the reader’s published novels are far superior...
Each story has different plots, but generally, they all involve the observer discovering or readjusting themselves through their relationships with others. < >Gaultreaux skillfully uses changes in the external world to drive the story forward. For example, in The Story of a Book Review, lightning appears twice. The first time is when the thin-skinned writer is reading reviews on Amazon, oblivious to the lightning strike in his backyard; the second time is on his way to confront the critical reader, where a ball of lightning explodes at the edge of his vision. ”He couldn't help but imagine the lightning as bad reviews on Amazon—random and meaningless attacks." The ignored lightning now brings terrible associations, indicating his sensitive nerves are even more exaggerated after the "bad review incident." This second lightning also foreshadows the failure of his second work.
Adversity is the backdrop for each story in this book - bankruptcy, broken families, collapsing houses, even near-death experiences due to alcoholism or severe illness. Gaultreaux doesn’t offer better options; he just lets them play a beautiful tune, tidy up their backyards and set up a tire swing for their grandchildren, or gaze at diamond-like stars in the New Mexico desert, recalling the taste of iced watermelon.
3.9 / 5 stars
January 28, 2018
A nice collection. There were some definite standouts (“Welding With Children, “What We Don’t See in the Light,” and “Sorry Blood” were my favorites) but it ran a little long—there were a few stories that could’ve been cut. Still, great voice and I loved the (mostly) Southern, blue-collar point of view. Felt like every other narrator was a furnace repairman, a bug man, or a welder. Right up my alley.
November 2, 2017
This guy is a fantastic author! His characters and the settings are vivid. Stories were fascinating - both comic and poignant! I plan to read all of his work - that’s how good these were. It was a terrific audiobook.
March 1, 2018
This is the kind of book that makes you realize that fiction can teach you more than facts can. I’ve read everything I can get my hands on by Gautreaux, and this book ranks up with the best.
There are 21 stories here, some drawn from earlier collections (Same Place, Same Things and Welding with Children). The tone is mostly down, but with heart. It’s that hard thud of realization, about how the world really is and about what kind of person you really are. Gautreaux likes to focus on the drama of unremarkable lives — a furnace repairman, a junkyard owner, an exterminator — and show that drama. What is an unremarkable life in the big picture is a drama in which things matter enormously on their own stage.
The most poignant of the stories, for me, may be The Furnace Man’s Lament. Mel Todd is a furnace repairman in ice-cold Minnesota. His life is punctuated by calls from desperate homeowners in the throes of freezing weather with broken heating systems. And he does his best to help. But when a teenager, Jack, is orphaned by the death of his grandfather in a dilapidated, heatless house, Todd does only his best. He doesn’t take the opportunity to take Jack in to his family. He gives Jack a job, and he supports him emotionally as well as he can, but that’s as far as he will go. When Jack makes his own choices in life, Todd bears the consequences of his holding back. He did nothing wrong, Jack does nothing wrong, but that missed opportunity will haunt him. Jack will be fine, more than fine, but he won’t be part of Todd’s life.
Sometimes Gautreaux can be unrelenting. Sympathetic characters don’t always enjoy happy endings. But that’s not the point. Happy endings can not only be unrealistic, they can be boring. Boring because they fail to surface the mixture of effort, courage, failure, injustice, and chance that makes our lives take the course that they take. Sometimes you do the best that you can do, or you fail to do the best that you can do. And sometimes your efforts fail or succeed through no fault or virtue of your own. Regardless, it’s the real drama of a real life.
After I’ve read Gautreaux’s stories, I feel as though I’m better equipped to try to live a good life, to accept my own failures, and to take the consequences.
There are 21 stories here, some drawn from earlier collections (Same Place, Same Things and Welding with Children). The tone is mostly down, but with heart. It’s that hard thud of realization, about how the world really is and about what kind of person you really are. Gautreaux likes to focus on the drama of unremarkable lives — a furnace repairman, a junkyard owner, an exterminator — and show that drama. What is an unremarkable life in the big picture is a drama in which things matter enormously on their own stage.
The most poignant of the stories, for me, may be The Furnace Man’s Lament. Mel Todd is a furnace repairman in ice-cold Minnesota. His life is punctuated by calls from desperate homeowners in the throes of freezing weather with broken heating systems. And he does his best to help. But when a teenager, Jack, is orphaned by the death of his grandfather in a dilapidated, heatless house, Todd does only his best. He doesn’t take the opportunity to take Jack in to his family. He gives Jack a job, and he supports him emotionally as well as he can, but that’s as far as he will go. When Jack makes his own choices in life, Todd bears the consequences of his holding back. He did nothing wrong, Jack does nothing wrong, but that missed opportunity will haunt him. Jack will be fine, more than fine, but he won’t be part of Todd’s life.
Sometimes Gautreaux can be unrelenting. Sympathetic characters don’t always enjoy happy endings. But that’s not the point. Happy endings can not only be unrealistic, they can be boring. Boring because they fail to surface the mixture of effort, courage, failure, injustice, and chance that makes our lives take the course that they take. Sometimes you do the best that you can do, or you fail to do the best that you can do. And sometimes your efforts fail or succeed through no fault or virtue of your own. Regardless, it’s the real drama of a real life.
After I’ve read Gautreaux’s stories, I feel as though I’m better equipped to try to live a good life, to accept my own failures, and to take the consequences.
February 21, 2017
In the Acknowledgments section, Mr Gautreaux makes the comment that "Short stories are a hard sell nowadays....". Remarkable. It seems as if some of my favorite reads lately are short stories, and this latest collection is the work of a true master of the form. There is not a clinker in the bunch, which makes my previous observation that a good short story collection is work for a reader hold up. What a rich body of work, but if there were any unifying quality, it would be each story is anchored by a person (usually a man) who doesn't realize he has some unresolved issues in his life that are addressed and resolved in an unexpected way within 20 or so pages. But then there are such stories as Easy Pickings and Died and Gone to Vegas that made me roar out loud. The final sentence of Acknowledgments gives a tip of the hat to his publisher. I'd like to give one directly to Mr. Gautreaux.
March 10, 2017
Excellent collection of short stories. Writing is sharp, precise, and engaging. Stories are an assortment of predominately rural male characters who are a bit unfit or uncomfortable in either society, their family, position in life, or feelings. Very well done!
February 7, 2017
First I've read anything by Tim Gautreaux. Can't wait to read his other books. I love short stories and these were wonderful and full of great characters.
January 10, 2018
I really enjoyed this short story collection, though some of the characters start to feel redundant. Definitely better reading a few at a time rather than all at once.
February 19, 2018
Listening to this book of short stories was extremely enjoyable. Most of the stories took place in Louisiana although one was in Minnesota quite inexplicably other than the possible need for Snow scenario! And a portion of another story was in New Mexico. The stories were predominantly about men but women did play some significant roles. There is quite a bit of what I would call introspection as characters think about their lives and choices they have made and how things might be different. It would be hard for me to say that the characters in this book are exactly normal. While they do seem like pretty regular people, they are unique for the most part. They are thoughtful people though not necessarily with any of the benefits (or liabilities) of advanced education. Quite a few of the men were self-employed in independent occupations such as The Bug Man or the heating and cooling repair or welding. There was a certain depth and detail in the stories that was impressive and displayed that the author has command of a good deal of information. I am not honestly quite sure what keeps me from giving this collection of short stories five stars but it is a very strong four star performance of authorship. And the audible presentation was very good as well.
April 18, 2017
If you love Tim Gautreaux stories, you'll love these.
And if you don't love Tim Gautreaux stories, you haven't read any yet.
It put me off that this collection has a few of his older stories that I've already read. But it turned out to be totally okay. Because most of the stories in this reasonably fat collection are new. And they're terrific.
And I was glad to read the old stories again.
I love how Gautreaux can put people together and have surprising things come out of their interactions.
And if you don't love Tim Gautreaux stories, you haven't read any yet.
It put me off that this collection has a few of his older stories that I've already read. But it turned out to be totally okay. Because most of the stories in this reasonably fat collection are new. And they're terrific.
And I was glad to read the old stories again.
I love how Gautreaux can put people together and have surprising things come out of their interactions.
February 1, 2020
Tim Gautreaux is a superb storyteller in the classic Southern tradition. I laughed out loud at so many of these stories and the antics of his ordinary unordinary characters dealing with the struggles of life. Gautreaux focuses on the person at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder and gives them the respect they deserve. No sentimentality, no pathos, no happy endings (maybe one or two), but a picture of what it means to be alive in this world and what happens to folks who are usually looking uphill at all their options. A joy to read.
January 13, 2019
A delightful collection of short stories. What an eye and ear to capture these characters and put them down on paper. We all have people like these in our community but do we see them the same way? Might be fun to pay more attention and discover what lies under the plaid flannel shirt.
June 29, 2018
This spectacular author is new to me, but I'll be searching out other works. Joe Barrett gave a fabulous reading of these stories, which run the emotional gamut, with many LOL moments. Loved it!
August 11, 2019
Radio Magic and Welding With Children were my favorite stories.
June 7, 2020
A perfect book of short stories, not a bad one in the bunch.
March 27, 2024
It’s Tim Gautreaux. 5 stars. Obviously. He just doesn’t miss.
June 8, 2021
Gautreaux has become one of my absolute favorite authors. He perfectly combines wit and humor with smart and evocative prose. He tells simple stories about seemingly simple folks that pack a big wallop. For the many stories set in Grand Crapaud, a fictional south Louisiana town, he perfectly captures the meter and verse of the dialect. A master of the short story.
May 4, 2025
Each story poignant in its own voice. The people in the stories are incredibly real, no one sentimentalised or demonized, like Tim Gautreaux really sees people. Being from Louisiana myself where many of his stories are located, I can attest that all the delicious details in the stories are homey and spot on.
January 2, 2018
Tim Gautreaux takes slices of life and serves them up in this pie worth revisiting for seconds and thirds. Signals explores human nature and reveals something about each one of us—good and bad. Mr. Gautreaux's matter-of-fact storytelling style still manages to paint the most vivid word pictures of his characters, their settings and their motivations. In his opening lines, he picks up his readers and transports them smack dab in the middle of someone's life and leads them along like some Ghost of Life Past/Present/Future. Before you know it, you're back in your reading chair with a deeper understanding of yourself and those around you, surrounded by a swirl of feelings.
I had the privilege of hearing Mr. Gautreaux speak on two separate occasions and got to meet him once as well—though I was too star-struck and shy to say a whole lot that he'd recall. He was as kind and approachable as his stories are affecting and lasting. I look forward to reading more of his collections as well as his novels. Perhaps next time I bump into him around the book tables, I'll do a bit more than stammer.
I had the privilege of hearing Mr. Gautreaux speak on two separate occasions and got to meet him once as well—though I was too star-struck and shy to say a whole lot that he'd recall. He was as kind and approachable as his stories are affecting and lasting. I look forward to reading more of his collections as well as his novels. Perhaps next time I bump into him around the book tables, I'll do a bit more than stammer.
December 21, 2019
A treasure for all serious readers
Why can’t every book be this well done? Every single sentence is perfectly crafted to build the stories. There’s every type of character, and you’ll care what happens to them all, even the ones that are not so likable. It is interesting that the more you read the harder it is to get the feeling that made you a reader, where you are able to get lost in a book. You’ll find it again in this collection.
Why can’t every book be this well done? Every single sentence is perfectly crafted to build the stories. There’s every type of character, and you’ll care what happens to them all, even the ones that are not so likable. It is interesting that the more you read the harder it is to get the feeling that made you a reader, where you are able to get lost in a book. You’ll find it again in this collection.
June 1, 2017
These stories tell of simple people, small good deeds and the unexpected results, opportunities taken and opportunities missed. They explore the richness in everyday life, for good or for ill. The characters range from the bug-man to the furnace man to a group of old-timers playing bourree, mostly in southern Louisiana. Life-affirming and optimistic, these stories leave me smiling.
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