On the creative writing side, we mainly release poetry (our substantial Akron Series in Poetry) and non-fiction (Joyce Dyer’s upcoming Goosetown). We are not a press that is known for publishing fiction and, looking over our catalog, it could easily be assumed that we haven’t published any. It’s easy to become lost in our forty-plus books of poetry, or our sizable collection of Ohio History & Culture, but hidden amongst our releases is a single book of short stories.
In the early days of the Press, waaaay back in 1995, we released The Civilized Tribes by Jerry Bumpus. Tribes is a collection of eleven short stories that were originally published in the 70’s and 80’s. The stories encompass a wide territory and one reviewer states that “Bumpus variously employs surrealism, magic realism, and the fantastical . . . it is not the underside of life but the underside of consciousness that [these stories] explore.” The reviewer goes on to mention that Bumpus’ stories “truly require a new critical lexicon” and that Tribes can help us “to revise our understanding and expectation of fiction.”
The book begins with the titular story, which examines a potentially fatal accident and its consequences for a former Army medic. The story employs a flowing narrative that is equally at home conveying the panic of the accident as it is painting a picture of the protagonist sharing drinks with a professor. The book moves on to stories that “epitomize Bumpus’ strongest work in conventional realism” to pieces which “encapsulate the grotesque . . . and a reality that is not what it appears.”
We will be offering copies of The Civilized Tribes for free to the first ten people to email press@uakron.edu with CIVILIZED TRIBES in the subject line. Winners pay the cost of shipping, but will receive the book for free, and will receive a reply with instructions on how to get their copy of Tribes.
This giveaway is now over. Congratulations to all the winners. If you are interested in a copy of The Civilized Tribes please visit our website.
____
In early 2010, we will be releasing our second book of short stores, a reissue of Eric Wasserman’s The Temporary Life.
2 Comments
November 13, 2009 at 2:03 pm
This book is a beautifully written oddball shocker! I’d write in for it if I didn’t already have a copy.
December 1, 2009 at 3:22 pm
[...] About An Akronism How to Get Your Free Copy of The Civilized Tribes [...]