Jettison

Nathaniel G. Moore follows up his 2014 ReLit Award win for Savage with a diverse collection of short fiction, his first, Jettison, featuring stories which dangle somewhere between horror and romance. "Jaws" explores a father''s desire to over-share the erotic origins of his children''s "Aunt" Louise; "Blade Runner" uncovers the darkest and most hilarious aspects of dating by delineating the psych ward politics surrounding a male mental patient with five girlfriends who takes apart his bed when they visit; in "A Higher Power," readers are introduced to a brave woman in recovery who shares a story about a time when all she could think about was Prime Minister Paul Martin and would do anything to crash charity dance-a-thons he might be attending; in "Son of Zodiac," Moore captures the ache of a life-spanning meltdown in the painfully polite confessions of a man who believes his father was the Zodiac Killer. Be grateful as you witness a portrait of vulgar torment when a young woman is given an English professor action figure for Christmas ("Professor Buggles"). Each of these stories is an all-inclusive getaway to hilarity and emotional atonement. Jettison is an all-you-can-eat buffet of literary invention: you''ll be so glad you got an invite. Praise for Jettison: "wickedly fun to read" (Winnipeg Free Press)