February 5, 2020
Here is the blurb:
-->
In A View from the Borderline: A Collection of Short Stories
(Ingram Sparks), acclaimed author Charles Souby affirms his “powerful, empathetic
study of place and character” (Kirkus Reviews), gift for dark humor, and
insight into troubled and twisted human minds. Set in Hollywood, Chicago, and
nameless Midwestern small towns between the 1970s and the present, the 20
stories introduce an eclectic cast of characters who range from quirky to deranged; misguided, wild, lost, and warped to varying degrees. The “borderline”
men and women include:
· Davenport, a recently
retired investment advisor, who hatches a plot to poison pigeons in a park across the street to frame his apartment neighbor Mrs. Goldberg.
· Leonard, a plodding AAA
clerk off on a psych leave and a regular at the local racetrack bar, whose
knack for picking winning horses tragically collides with his weakness for
boozy redheads in “Silver Slum Dog.”
· Mrs. Rosewood, whose
audacious plan to expose her dry cleaner as a thief—with the help of a can of lighter fluid—gets the attention of a
hostage negotiator in “The Plaid Golf Pants.”
· Stephen, a remedial
student at a second-rate prep school, who, in the summer of 1973, becomes
infatuated with a sweet but troubled 14-year-old runaway scheduled to be committed to an asylum for marijuana use and sexual promiscuity in “Christa’s Case - A View From the Borderline.”
Charles Souby draws his fictional characters and situations
from a wide range of personal experiences.
