June 26, 2006 Books » Book Buzz

Grueling 

by John Branston
gruel__pic_.jpg
"It wasn't until Memphis, on Alive at Nine!, when Watt [Pinson, of Gruel, South Carolina, who's on a cross-country tour featuring his dog, who has given birth to 24 puppies], thought to say, 'I have enough to buy a case of beer and each have one.'

The man, Alex, laughed. The woman, named Marybeth, said, 'I'm an animal lover, and let me tell you that it's detrimental to give a dog beer. It should be against the law.'

... Watt said, 'Yes. Yes it is. I know that. It was a joke, Marybeth. I was only kidding.'

Marybeth looked at the camera and said, 'Okay. Well. Twenty-four puppies! Coming up next, we're going to show y'all how to bake the perfect peach cobbler.'

Watt Pinson would remember this segment as being the most effortless, the easiest, the most almost lifelike."

You read it here, in "Runt," the opening story in George Singleton's new collection of short stories, Drowning in Gruel. He'll be signing in Memphis at Burke's Book Store on Wednesday, June 28th.

Book Buzz archives »

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this thread:
By Email
With RSS

Add a comment

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Stories

More by John Branston

  • Pit Stops

    Ten BBQ joints worth a day trip from Memphis.
    • by Hannah Sayle, Chris Herrington, Chris Shaw, Louis Goggans, Greg Akers, Bruce VanWyngarden, Jackson Baker and John Branston
    • May 16, 2013
  • More »

Top Viewed Stories

Site Search

From the Archives

  • When Halliburton Was a Good Name

    Though referred to in last Sunday's New York Times Travel section as a now “obscure” author, Richard Halliburton’s tales of wanderlust still manage to stir the minds of modern day authors. Halliburton, a Memphian who left Princeton University to see the world, wrote several best-selling books. In fact, he was among the world’s most famous travel-adventure writers during the 1920s and 1930s — writing of swimming the length of the Panama Canal, and exploring much of the globe copiloting a biplane. His family later donated money to Rhodes College, which constructed a bell tower in his honor. Halliburton was lost at sea at age 39. To read the Times' take on Halliburton, go here.
    • by John Branston
    • May 17, 2006

  • Postcards for Friends

    Second Editions, the "gently" used bookstore in the Benjamin L. Hooks Central Library, is now selling postcards to benefit the Friends of the Library. The cards highlight the library's architecture, its public art (pictured: a mosaic frog by Sherri Warner Hunter), and historical scenes drawn from the Memphis Room collection. Price: 44 cents per card; 10 for $3.54.
    • by John Branston
    • May 17, 2006
  • More »

SPECIAL ISSUES

Best of Memphis 2012

Best of Memphis 2012

click here to see more »

Hotties 2013

Hotties 2013

click here to see more »

© 1996-2013

Contemporary Media
460 Tennessee Street, 2nd Floor | Memphis, TN 38103
Visit our other sites: Memphis Magazine | Memphis Parent | Memphis Business Quarterly
Powered by Foundation