Perpetual Care and Other Stories — James Nolan

This collection of short stories, which was awarded the 2007 Jefferson Press prize for Best New Voice in Fiction, explores the milieu of what post-Katrina New Orleans residents have come to call "the isle of denial"Â -- a resilient and intact sliver of civilization surrounded by a sea of devastation. Evoking the comic grotesque legacy of Flannery O'Connor and John Kennedy Toole, these pieces inhabit a variety of piquant souls, including a Creole spinster, a transvestite plumber, a gambler who makes prosthetic eyes, a food critic who winds up with a mouthful of his best friend's ashes, and a grief-stricken young woman who sneaks a clock radio into her boyfriend's casket. They share a common trait of perverse denial in the face of historic or private defeat. Each story provides a window into aspects of the city and its' captivating neighborhoods while tendering startling revelations on elemental themes of death, sex, and restoration.