The Purchase of Order - (Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction) by Gail Galloway Adams (Paperback)

About the Book

In the cadence of a Texas drawl or the whisper of a midday kiss, these stories capture untidy lives in which the pain of living is confounded with a grin. The Purchase of Order depicts characters from Germany to Georgia, men and women attempting to find meaning within memory, who take joy in giving of themselves.

Book Synopsis

In the cadence of a Texas drawl or the whisper of a midday kiss, these stories by Gail Galloway Adams capture untidy lives in which the pain of living is confounded with a grin. From the yoga instructor with her Earthshoes and mantras to the Texas aunt who wills herself insane, the characters in Adams's stories boldly face the sorrows and strains of everyday life, seeking relief in humor and redemption in words. The Purchase of Order depicts characters from Germany to Georgia, men and women attempting to find meaning within memory, who take joy in giving of themselves.

From the Back Cover

In the cadence of a Texas drawl or the whisper of a midday kiss, these stories by Gail Galloway Adams capture untidy lives in which the pain of living is confounded with a grin. From the yoga instructor with her Earthshoes and mantras to the Texas aunt who wills herself insane, the characters in Adams's stories boldly face the sorrows and strains of everyday life, seeking relief in humor and redemption in words. The Purchase of Order depicts characters from Germany to Georgia, men and women attempting to find meaning within memory, who take joy in giving of themselves.

Review Quotes

If there is a heaven, I'm sure Flannery O'Connor is in it, and if she's looking down on Gail Galloway Adams right now, I'm sure she's pleased.

--Susan Wood "Washington Post"

A deeply felt, solidly written book.

--Chicago Tribune

Adams possesses the ability to convey the poignancy and drama found even in everyday things. . . . Each story is told with an enthralling mixture of sadness and wit.

--Southern Living

Ranging widely over the lives of authentic men and women and their idiosyncracies, these tales are impressive models of the storytelling art.

--Publishers Weekly

About the Author

GAIL GALLOWAY ADAMS is the author of The Purchase of Order, which received the 1987 Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction. She is a professor emeritus at West Virginia University, where she taught creative writing for over twenty years. Adams served as fiction editor for Arts and Letters: A Literary Journal and for the Potomac Review. She has been a reader/judge for several short fiction awards series. She has recently taught at Kenyon College, West Virginia Wesleyan College, and the Wild Acres Writers Workshop. She also works privately as a short story and novel editorial consultant and lives in Tallahassee, Florida.