Deadheading and Other Stories

by Beth Gilstrap

Overview

Irrevocably tied to the Carolinas, these stories tell tales of the woebegone, their obsessions with decay, and the haunting ache of the region itself—the land of the dwindling pines, the isolation inherent in the mountains and foothills, and the loneliness of boomtowns. Predominantly working-class women challenge the status quo by rejecting any lingering expectations or romantic notions of Southern femininity. Small businesses are failing. Factories are closing. Money is tight. The threat of violence lingers for women and girls. Through their collective grief, heartache, and unsettling circumstances, many of these characters become feral and hell-bent on survival. Gilstrap’s prose teems with wildness and lyricism, showing the Southern gothic tradition of storytelling is alive and feverishly unwell in the twenty-first century.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781636280004
Publisher:	Red Hen Press
Publication date:	10/05/2021
Pages:	232
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Beth Gilstrap is the author of I Am Barbarella (2015) from Twelve Winters Press. Her work has been selected as Longform.org’s “Fiction Pick of the Week” and chosen by Dan Chaon for inclusion in the Best Microfiction Anthology 2019. She holds an MFA from Chatham University. Her stories, essays, and hybrids have appeared in Ninth Letter, the Minnesota Review, Denver Quarterly, Gulf Stream Lit, and Wigleaf, among others. Born and raised in the Charlotte area, she has recently relocated to Louisville.

Interviews

"This is a collection you can taste: chicken thighs and hot dogs, pancakes and okra. These characters have hands that work, that are scented by flowers, dough, and earth. These stories are, indeed, in full bloom—cultivated and wild, most often intertwined." —The Rumpus

Editorial Reviews

• Listed as Foreword Indies Award Finalist
  
• Shortlisted for Stanford Library's William Saroyan Prize in Fiction

"This is a collection you can taste: chicken thighs and hot dogs, pancakes and okra. These characters have hands that work, that are scented by flowers, dough, and earth. These stories are, indeed, in full bloom—cultivated and wild, most often intertwined." —The Rumpus

"Whether reading her beautifully-detailed descriptions of place in the outstanding 'What Magic' and 'Lake Hartwell, South Carolina' or diving into the hurt but determined mind of Layla in 'Still Soft, Still Whole' and 'Deadheading,' it’s clear that Beth Gilstrap knows how to capture the essential truths of place and people. Her latest collection, Deadheading & Other Stories, is a beautiful, affecting work — one that, with lyrical prose, explores what it means to survive in the South."  —Southern Review of Books

"In this wide-ranging collection, some stories are more lyrical than others, some are classically Southern Gothic, and most vary in tone and style. This breadth proves Gilstrap’s skills and dexterity as a writer working out the implications of a fascinating metaphor." —Necessary Fiction

From the Publisher