Brad Barkley’s first collection of short stories centers on the lives of working-class men and women frequently fighting desperation or dissatisfaction, but a few of the thirteen illuminating tales maintain hope, despite the long odds against happiness.
Barkley's 13 stories are built around concrete things: a tunnel, a book, a drive-in, a diner, a grove of trees. These settings and props anchor a memorable cast of small-town Americans who, battered by fortune, live in the wreckage of old dreams: the owner of the defunct drive-in theater of the title story; the former garage mechanic of "Porter's Dodge"; the once-great clown Hobo Ned of "Clown Alley." The bewildered family of "The New Us" finds that having too much money can be as corrosive as having too little. But these characters are not to be denied. The deadbeat dad drifter of "Extent of Fatherhood" bases his paternal fantasy on an unread book. Even when too telegraphic, the stories have the sweet resonance of Saturday Evening Post fiction caught in a 1990s milieu. Perhaps the most impressive work is "Smoke," which deftly overlays a web of relationships around Eck Voight, a former cop and cigarette-maker dying of cancer. In this solid debut, Barkley manages the admirable trick of getting the reader to care about his all-too-recognizable burnt-out cases.