Golden Heart Parade

by Joseph Holt

"Raw, dark, and surprisingly funny . . . there's so much precision and verve in these stories; I was captivated the entire way through." -- Carmen Maria Machado, author of Her Body and Other Parties and In the Dream House

"Holt's debut collection introduces characters in mutiny against themselves and the status quo. These stories are comic and heartbreaking." -- Elizabeth McKenzie, author of The Portable Veblen

In the wry, twisted stories of Golden Heart Parade , the underdog is king and the outsiders are storming the gates. We visit the roadside haunts and desolate highways of America's heartland, meeting the screwballs who shuffle their feet to a soundtrack of rumble strips and twangy AM radio. These misfits and mavericks are in trouble--on the streets, out of work, down on their luck--yet their paths to redemption are always heartfelt and humorous.

Holt's debut story collection--winner of the SFWP Literary Awards--will appeal to readers of Jacob M. Appel's short fiction, May-Lan Tan's Things to Make and Break  and Joe Sacksteder's Make/Shift . In lush and lucid prose, Golden Heart Parade  navigates emotional landscapes that reflect the vast terrain of America's Heartland.

Genres: Short Stories

178 pages, Paperback

Published September 1, 2021

Reviews

[Caleb Tankersley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gorgeous debut collection. The stories are wonderfully linked by a sense of place. I could really feel the northern plains. And yet each story was wholly unique. There's darkness, weirdness, and plenty of humor. And peeking behind all of that is a sense that this collection is saying something big about life, teaching me indirectly without being pedantic. All of this floats on plenty of real beauty in the sentence-level writing. Loved it! Go pick it up.

[Nathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every story quickly pulls you in and keeps you entertained throughout the book.

[Sherri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Short stories about misfits.