Book details

  • Genre:fiction
  • Sub-genre:Short Stories
  • Language:English
  • Pages:227
  • eBook ISBN:9798317818708

The Mercy of Others

Stories

By Kent Nelson

Overview

In The Mercy of Others, a collection of fifteen exhilarating stories set in eleven different states, distinguished author Kent Nelson demonstrates a keen knowledge of the diversity of human nature. Through finely crafted prose and exceptional dialogue, narrators of diverse ages and genders explore an intriguing variety of themes and circumstances.
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Description

In Death Valley, a man picks up a Dutch woman hitchhiker, and things go from bad to worse. A father in South Carolina receives a goodbye call from his daughter, prompting him to fly to New Mexico to look for her. A couple from Minnesota with a sordid past spend the winter in an RV park in Texas. A truant kid and his girlfriend in Nebraska find a moose that's wandered into the state. A Black woman in Florida who goes to live on her father's abandoned farm discovers a White woman has been staying there. In this compelling collection of heart-wrenching stories, narrators of disparate ages and backgrounds grapple with odd and unexpected circumstances that awaken understanding and self-discovery. Readers who appreciate beautiful and meaningful prose will savor The Mercy of Others.
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About The Author

Kent Nelson is a prolific author who has published twelve books of fiction and over one hundred and sixty stories. His stories have been included in the Pushcart and O. Henry anthologies, as well multiple times within The Best American Stories series, while his books have been awarded numerous accolades including the Edward Abbey Prize for Eco-fiction, the Colorado Book Award, and the Mountain and Plains Booksellers award for best novel. Kent has been a life-long birder, and searching for rare species has led him to every part of North America, including Attu—the last Aleutian Island—as well as to Costa Rica, Ecuador, Uruguay, Bhutan, New Zealand, and Australia. He has a life list of 771 species in North America and 890 in Ecuador. In college, Kent was a varsity athlete in tennis and ice hockey. He later played professional tennis in Europe and was once ranked sixth in North America in 45+ squash. He has run the Pikes Peak Marathon twice, 26.2 miles and 7814 feet up and down. Kent lives in Ouray, Colorado.
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