Jackson State - (Carnegie Mellon University Press Fiction) by Derek Green (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Unflinching and deeply human--Derek Green perfectly encapsulates the quiet dramas of modern America.

The characters in Jackson State live in a land of contradictions--where wealth and poverty, beauty and decay, hope and despair exist side by side. In this striking collection, Derek Green brings the American Midwest to life, tracing the tensions of class and race through intimate, unforgettable stories.

A father's protective instinct threatens to unravel his family. A single mother must confront the dangers lurking outside her door. Two siblings navigate the fallout of their father's militia ties. On the shores of Lake Michigan, a prodigal daughter's return forces a reckoning with the past. With sharp prose and stark realism, Green captures the struggles and complexities of contemporary American life, establishing Green as a storyteller in the tradition of Carver, Updike, and Cheever.

Review Quotes

"These stories by Derek Green take us to that eerie landscape between childhood and full adulthood, and they're wonderfully observant about how children and young adults are still trying to figure out what the rules are and whether they apply to them. The stories gain in power in part because they're Midwestern in spirit, plainspoken, without frills: they seem to be reporting the honest truth. It's a fine and wonderful collection."-- "Charles Baxter"

About the Author

Derek Green is an author, screenwriter, and lecturer in Creative Writing at Yale University. He is the author of New World Order, a collection of linked stories set in various locations around the globe. He has published nonfiction on subjects ranging from industrial farming and trauma surgery to international politics. As a screenwriter, Green has written for Warner Bros. Studios and Carousel Productions. He was born and raised in Michigan, where the stories in Jackson State are set.