Book description
In 'Blessed', a thief's career is cut short when he falls from a
rooftop. Since the accident he has been subsisting on a disability
cheque, a potent painkiller prescription and having his wife sell her blood.
In 'The Fights', Bobby has been off the sauce for five long months.
On the advice of his Alcoholics Anonymous mentor, he pays his family a
visit in Knockemstiff-where even the wood smoke reminds him of
whiskey. While his father and brother amuse themselves by watching
pre-recorded boxing and his mother mopes in the kitchen, the inertia
infusing his old home threatens to take hold.
Part of the Storycuts series, these two short stories were
previously published in the collection Knockemstiff.
Don Pollock grew up in Knockemstiff and worked in the Mead papermill
for thirty-two years before leaving to become a writer. He teaches
literature and composition at Ohio State University.
