In this Book
- Plain of Jars: and Other Stories
- Book
- 2011
- Published by: Michigan State University Press
In the opening story of Geary Hobson’s riveting new collection, Plain of Jars, a young private confides to his friend that he’s trying to leave the Marine Corps. “I am not doing this just because I find the Marine Corps too tough,” Warren Needham says, but because violence is contradictory to his faith. The story’s surprising climax, however, reveals a different side of Needham’s contradictory nature. It’s this acute understanding of conflict that characterizes Plain of Jars, a book populated by bullies, men in combat, abusive spouses, and Native Americans seeking a sense of personal identity in an environment where conformity is law. The U.S. Marine Corps sets the stage for a number of these stories, whose protagonists combat racism, post-traumatic stress syndrome, and the looming reality of the Vietnam War. With pitch perfect dialogue and a sense of the unexpected, Plain of Jars tests the depths of complex lives.
Table of Contents
- Acknowledgments
- p. vii
- Introduction: Go Little Stories
- pp. ix-xii
- The Odor of Dead Fish
- pp. 11-24
- Shin Splints
- pp. 25-44
- Plain of Jars
- pp. 45-64
- A Truckload of Dead Babies
- pp. 65-82
- An Attitude of Dignity
- pp. 109-112
- Creative Writing
- pp. 113-140
- Standing-In for Fritz Scholder and Yoko Ono
- pp. 141-156
- A Christmas Story
- pp. 157-194
- Hollow Horn
- pp. 205-218
- Kyrie Eleison!
- pp. 219-232
Additional Information
Copyright
2011