A Night at the Y
“so finely crafted as to approach perfection”
Wild, funny, touching, and full of crackling dialogue, the stories in this collection turn the intensity of real life up a notch: A soap opera star turns a set into a real-life melodrama. A hot spring oasis is the source of a man’s newfound sanity—or is it insanity?
In Robert Garner McBrearty’s talented hands, this exaggerated reality makes life seem much more hilarious and heartbreakingly real. Previously published in distinguished literary magazines, these stories are about people caught at the moment of life change. Each compelling character struggles with major issues: the struggle to hold down two jobs, hold on to love, or keep a grip on reality. And then there’s the toughest tussle of all—the choice to be a responsible citizen or a heroic hellraiser who runs with the bulls.
Written with wit and true grit, these stories take readers from the city to the open country, from Texas to California. But no matter where they are set, real people live there — out loud.
Reviews
“McBrearty is as adept at moving the reader with an understanding of life’s more poignant moments as he is at making one laugh.”
— Robin Hemley, Chicago Tribune
“I have always been a fan of Robert McBrearty’s stories, ever since we published ‘The Dishwasher’ in The Pushcart Prize series. Here are eleven more stories, sure to increase his fan club.”
— Bill Henderson, publisher of Pushcart Press
“The Modern-day Walter Mittys of these 12 humorous stories, McBrearty’s debut, shuffle carefully from their humdrum existences into wider, more exhilarating, often quite humorous worlds.... The quirky, self-dramatizing characters in these entertainingly wry selections make good progress toward redemption, or at least manage to laugh in the face of their anxieties.”
— Publisher’s Weekly
“Robert McBrearty’s characters are in trouble, off on crazy schemes, headed nowhere fast, but always they’re somewhere on the path of trying to make a change for the better. These are plainspeaking, entertaining stories about driving in the lost lane, looking for exits.”
— Speer Morgan, editor of The Missouri Review
“RobertMcBrearty writes with Chekhovian grace, a great tenderness toward every character, and a deep understanding of the poignant comedy of ordinary life. All the stories in A Night at the Y stand quietly outside convention, on their own original ground.”
— Heidi Jon Schmidt, author of The Rose Thieves
