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Staff Picks
It’s Father’s Day 1972 and a young boy’s dad takes him to visit a string of unimpressive ex-girlfriends that could have been his mother; the unconventional detective work of a koan-speaking, Kung Fu–loving uncle solves a case of arson during a pancake breakfast; and a former geology professor, recovering from addiction, finds himself sharing a taxicab with specters from a Jim Crow–era lynching. Set in and around the fictional town of Steepleburg, South Carolina, the loosely tied stories in George Singleton’s Staff Picks place sympathetic, oddball characters in absurd, borderline surreal situations that slowly reveal the angst of southern history with humor and bite.
In the tradition of Donald Barthelme, T. C. Boyle, Flannery O’Connor, and Raymond Carver, Singleton creates lingering, darkly comedic tales by drawing from those places where familiarity and alienation coexist. A remarkable and distinct effort from an acclaimed chronicler of the South, Staff Picks reaffirms Singleton’s gift for crafting short story collections that both deliver individual gems and shine as a whole.
In the tradition of Donald Barthelme, T. C. Boyle, Flannery O’Connor, and Raymond Carver, Singleton creates lingering, darkly comedic tales by drawing from those places where familiarity and alienation coexist. A remarkable and distinct effort from an acclaimed chronicler of the South, Staff Picks reaffirms Singleton’s gift for crafting short story collections that both deliver individual gems and shine as a whole.
- GenresShort Stories
216 pages, Paperback
Published March 6, 2019
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
May 2, 2019
George Singleton is a well-established Southern author who publishes short stories in small presses. Each story in Staff Picks is firmly rooted in the rural communities of the Carolina upstate, with occasional mentions of "Steepleburg," a pretty obvious stand-in for Spartanburg. With the exception of the title story, each story is narrated by a middle-aged or older white man, and most of them are easy-going guys who feel some regret for the way things have turned out.
The two most memorable stories were Staff Picks, in which a woman is determined to win a radio endurance contest for an RV, and Eclipse, in which a middle-aged recovering addict works a catering job at a community center named for a lynching victim. Things become surreal, although the reader is never quite certain how reliable a narrator the story has.
All in all, this is a solid collection of stories that reflect the location in which they are set.
The two most memorable stories were Staff Picks, in which a woman is determined to win a radio endurance contest for an RV, and Eclipse, in which a middle-aged recovering addict works a catering job at a community center named for a lynching victim. Things become surreal, although the reader is never quite certain how reliable a narrator the story has.
All in all, this is a solid collection of stories that reflect the location in which they are set.
July 2, 2020
A George Singleton collection is always best savored slowly like a fine whiskey, and Staff Picks is no exception. I feel that there might be a tinge more sadness in this one, adding some further complexity to his still quite funny stories. That could just be my own perceptions tainted somewhat by the tone of our times, or it may be that said tone may be informing the somewhat more anguished undertones. Not everywhere, of course, but in enough of the stories for me to notice. Not a criticism, of course, just an observation. I didn't find a weak story in the bunch, though "Hex Keys" and "Flag Day" were particular favorites.
May 29, 2019
Staff Picks is a collection of fourteen short stories set, mostly, in current day South Carolina around the fictitious small town of Steepleburg. The ambiance for all the stories is off-the-wall, silly-bizarre with dark edges. They are also true to the reality of US southern life with all its contradictions, inanities, biases, prejudices, naivetes, and integrities. The dark aspects come mostly from the struggles of the characters to find some meaning in the cultural stew they inhabit. That mix of desperate reality within goofiness is what makes Mr. Singleton a humorist rather than just a comic.
Though often in a common setting (small town SC), all the stories have discrete sets of characters, including the protagonists. The protag voice is pretty much the same, whether young or old, educated or not, male or female. Regardless, this person is an acute observer, though often bewildered by what he is observing. Though self-absorbed, he usually comes around. In fact, most of the characters are self-absorbed. I got the feeling of them trying to work out their personal problems and only coming back to the current situation when required. This trope makes much of the dialogue feel disjointed. That is, characters will respond off-subject, as though they are just standing close together, verbalizing different conversations. For example:
I said, “What’s your last name, William?”
“I play along. I pretend. It makes the old lady and her friends feel better about themselves.”
Mr. Singleton is skillful in writing dialogue this way. It has a natural feel and lends to the theme of individual seeking among his characters. Even so, they typically come together in common purpose. This trope is especially evident, and effective, in the Flag Day story.
There is much humor in these stories, especially in the images depicted. Some are priceless, like the father and two sons who dress-up for Halloween as Jesus and the two thieves (Four-Way Stop). There is a point in that story where the protag is driving through the countryside, calling into the dark for Jesus. What a picture! That’s the kind of thoughtful humor that infuses these stories and makes the collection more than “local writing.”
There are many more such images. Like the man parading across a stage on stilts wearing a sandwich sign upon which he has copied the entire King James Bible with very tiny paintbrush strokes. Or a kid doing his family’s laundry by wearing layers of it and swimming in an over-chlorinated pool. Or a couple on a “commando raid” to sabotage a racist flag-raising.
Such images are impressively clever as literary depictions, but they’re made effective by underpinnings of theme. So you have the protag looking for the homeless Jesus in the dark, a drowning kicking off a domino chain of events ending in guilt-for-doing-well, and a reluctant vacationer being surprised by an ignorant display of racism and conflicted whether to take a stand or let it slide. All of this is supported with prose just as clever and thoughtful:
…while those old men sang gaping at a Confederate flag they’d brought into Poke Pancake, hands over pacemakers, at the same height as the American flag…
In describing all these eccentric characters and situations, however, Mr. Singleton does not stray far from reality. Sprinkled throughout the narration he sounds notes of life’s harsh side. So even in a sentence that is just a descriptive aside, he reminds us that life is hard and nobody gets out alive:
Sometimes Lou’s wife, Starla, sat in, as did Marvin’s wife, Lillian, before she succumbed to pancreatic cancer.
That’s the way life is, even when it gets bizarre. Where there is positiveness in these stories it comes from within those selfsame eccentric people. So a woman dares look for love with a champion bowler, with whom she tempts fate in an act of freedom and revenge. Or it may be a subtler act of friendship for one of a poker group, who’s losing his mind to guilt as much as to dementia.
As much as anything, Staff Picks is a collection of fourteen prompts for considering that the “realness” of living beyond the absurdities, lies just below the surface.
Though often in a common setting (small town SC), all the stories have discrete sets of characters, including the protagonists. The protag voice is pretty much the same, whether young or old, educated or not, male or female. Regardless, this person is an acute observer, though often bewildered by what he is observing. Though self-absorbed, he usually comes around. In fact, most of the characters are self-absorbed. I got the feeling of them trying to work out their personal problems and only coming back to the current situation when required. This trope makes much of the dialogue feel disjointed. That is, characters will respond off-subject, as though they are just standing close together, verbalizing different conversations. For example:
I said, “What’s your last name, William?”
“I play along. I pretend. It makes the old lady and her friends feel better about themselves.”
Mr. Singleton is skillful in writing dialogue this way. It has a natural feel and lends to the theme of individual seeking among his characters. Even so, they typically come together in common purpose. This trope is especially evident, and effective, in the Flag Day story.
There is much humor in these stories, especially in the images depicted. Some are priceless, like the father and two sons who dress-up for Halloween as Jesus and the two thieves (Four-Way Stop). There is a point in that story where the protag is driving through the countryside, calling into the dark for Jesus. What a picture! That’s the kind of thoughtful humor that infuses these stories and makes the collection more than “local writing.”
There are many more such images. Like the man parading across a stage on stilts wearing a sandwich sign upon which he has copied the entire King James Bible with very tiny paintbrush strokes. Or a kid doing his family’s laundry by wearing layers of it and swimming in an over-chlorinated pool. Or a couple on a “commando raid” to sabotage a racist flag-raising.
Such images are impressively clever as literary depictions, but they’re made effective by underpinnings of theme. So you have the protag looking for the homeless Jesus in the dark, a drowning kicking off a domino chain of events ending in guilt-for-doing-well, and a reluctant vacationer being surprised by an ignorant display of racism and conflicted whether to take a stand or let it slide. All of this is supported with prose just as clever and thoughtful:
…while those old men sang gaping at a Confederate flag they’d brought into Poke Pancake, hands over pacemakers, at the same height as the American flag…
In describing all these eccentric characters and situations, however, Mr. Singleton does not stray far from reality. Sprinkled throughout the narration he sounds notes of life’s harsh side. So even in a sentence that is just a descriptive aside, he reminds us that life is hard and nobody gets out alive:
Sometimes Lou’s wife, Starla, sat in, as did Marvin’s wife, Lillian, before she succumbed to pancreatic cancer.
That’s the way life is, even when it gets bizarre. Where there is positiveness in these stories it comes from within those selfsame eccentric people. So a woman dares look for love with a champion bowler, with whom she tempts fate in an act of freedom and revenge. Or it may be a subtler act of friendship for one of a poker group, who’s losing his mind to guilt as much as to dementia.
As much as anything, Staff Picks is a collection of fourteen prompts for considering that the “realness” of living beyond the absurdities, lies just below the surface.
March 3, 2020
I've followed and admired George Singleton's work for almost 20 years. For a long time, "This Itches, Y'all" (from his 2nd collection, Half-Mammals of Dixie) was my favorite story of his. After reading this collection, though, I think my new favorite is the book's closer, "Everything's Wild" - a heartbreaking story about a widower going through the early stages of Alzheimer's and how his circle of friends react to this realization. It is a beautiful portrait of an old man dealing with loss grief, and guilt while also illustrating the importance of our chosen families.
December 9, 2019
Another awesome short story collection from George Singleton. My favorites were Staff Picks, Flag Day, and Everything’s Wild. I especially like his writing about marriage and his fervently liberal views. A great thing about George Singleton is that you can read his stories again and again—I still regularly pick up These People Are Us, his first collection from 2001, and I am not a big re-reader.
May 10, 2020
Funny only the way that George Singleton can do it.
December 4, 2019
A decent collection from a writer whose work I often like. I enjoyed best the first three stories, the remained less so. He is best when he is making off-kilter wry humorous commentary. Probably not his best effort, but still pretty good. He does seem to have this think about women/mothers dying or leaving.
July 3, 2019
I flat-out love George Singleton's writing. He has a great, dry, witty sense of humor. He can create vivid settings and some of the most off-the-wall characters, the ne'erdowells his forté. A Southern writer, he nails Southern cliches, prejudices and patterns of speech. And he skewers small-town South Carolina life with a gleam in his eye and a laugh bubbling in the back of his throat. These short stories will make you laugh out loud, shake your head and tickle your puzzler. I have met George a couple of times, and he’s the guy you want to get stuck with on a deserted island. The one you want to sit with at a dull dinner. The guy you hope is on the next bar stool. Pick up anything and everything he writes and get schooled in Southern mishaps, misadventures and mistakes. You'll know some of it is true. Full review https://www.salisburypost.com/2019/03...
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews