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If You Like Charles Portis

March 5, 2020

I'm still waiting for George Singleton to get the following that he deserves.

If you like the writing style and anti-mass-culture musings of George Saunders or Charles Portis, give him a shot.  Or think of him as a more absurdist version of Raymond Carver, in that his prose has the same rhythmic cadence and his focus is also on men and women and how they can unintentionally hurt one another.  I especially like his depictions of marriage and his fervently liberal views, but his sustained humor in the face of life's inanities is his real forté.

Singleton is also a practitioner of one of my favorite genres, loser lit, where the protagonist is in a downward spiral completely of his own making, resulting in a strange but appealing mixture of comedy and tragedy.

I’ve also seen him compared to Richard Brautigan and, with his celebration of oddballs and misfits, Flannery O’Connor.

beth winter

Beth

Beth works in the Collection Development department.  She loves short stories, memoirs, documentary films, and cookbooks.  Her favorite things about working at the library are knowing in advance about all the new releases and the easy access to her library holds.