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Congratulations on Your Martyrdom! (Break Away Books) Kindle Edition
Searing, troubling, and funny, these revolutionary, linked stories flit and dart among the shadows of small town life, and the touching and heartbreaking characters that occupy it. Employees use roadkill instead of faux pelts during a build-a-critter battle for mall supremacy. Former band geeks are harassed with mutilated musical instruments and then murdered. The collection is haunted by allusions to a fatal cannonball jump that crescendos in the explosive final story. An extraordinary addition to the canon of gonzo fiction, Congratulations on Your Martyrdom! introduces Zachary Tyler Vickers as an exciting new author whose unflinching prose grabs you and won't let go.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherBreak Away Book Club Edition
- Publication dateJune 1, 2016
- File size3.2 MB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Fascinating, funny, dark, and thought-provoking, with every sentence crafted meticulously."―Wapsipinicon Alamanac
"In Congratulations on Your Martyrdom!, Zachary Tyler Vickers cannonballs from the highest diving board into the teeming pool of contemporary literature. These playfully irreverent stories are populated by optimistic underdogs―working stiffs, grievers, the lovelorn―earnestly struggling to keep their heads above water. Mr. Vickers, with kindness, humility, and precision of voice, extends a lifeline to these beautiful weirdos and, with a gentle tug, sends us skyward to soar above this busy, busy, busy modern world."―Jason Ockert, author of Wasp Box
"Congratulations on Your Martyrdom! is full of inventive mischief, strange new worlds, and good old human longing. Zachary Tyler Vickers is a true original, with a wild and rambunctious imagination, and deadeye for the funnybone."―Michelle Huneven, author of Off Course
"This is a collection full of lingering stories and lovely lines, and it introduces Vickers as a vital new writer. His stories occupy a unique middle zone between the memorably bizarre and the movingly sweet-hearted, the deeply felt and the dementedly funny. He's also a tireless stylist, capturing his characters' sad-sack vernacular and tweaking every sentence until it yields some tongue-twisting lyricism."―Bennett Sims, author of A Questionable Shape
"Zachary Tyler Vickers's Congratulations on Your Martyrdom! is delightfully metafictive, admirably invested in social critique, and wisely aware of both the benefits and pitfalls of domestic verisimilitude. The interconnected nature of the stories allows Vickers to manage complex and complete world-building. An interesting and original addition to the canon of gonzo fiction!"―Josh Russell, author of Yellow Jack
"Congratulations on Your Martyrdom! is one of the most addictive collections of short fiction I've read in years. Whimsical, wild and gleefully absurd to the point of wickedness, Vickers's stories revel in the collapse of American culture. Once these stories grab, they do not let go."―Jessica Anthony, author of The Convalescent
"The stories are linked, by place, by time, by characters, by small events and large tragedies that pop up in brief mentions in one story and then disappear for several pieces, only to reappear and be examined from different perspectives more fully. The end effect is a set of connected stories that has the power of a novel and a magnetic, almost hypnotic pull on the reader."―Paul Griner, author of Hurry Please I Want To Know
"A debut full of heart and energy, by an intense, fervent writer whose dedication shows in every line."―George Saunders, author of Tenth of December: Stories
Review
A debut full of heart and energy, by an intense, fervent writer whose dedication shows in every line.
-- George SaundersAbout the Author
Zachary Tyler Vickers is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop where he was the Provost's Fellow. He is recipient of the Richard Yates Prize and the Clark Fisher Ansley Prize, and his stories have appeared in numerous journals. His website is www.ztvickers.com
Product details
- ASIN : B01D1QG4HC
- Publisher : Break Away Book Club Edition; Break Away Book Club ed. edition (June 1, 2016)
- Publication date : June 1, 2016
- Language : English
- File size : 3.2 MB
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 202 pages
- Page numbers source ISBN : 0253019818
- Best Sellers Rank: #1,110,675 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #728 in American Humorous Fiction
- #963 in Humorous American Literature
- #5,885 in General Humorous Fiction
- Customer Reviews:
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- Reviewed in the United States on July 31, 2017What a surprising and moving book this is, meant to be read slowly and savored. Each story is a little world unto itself, with some of the most achingly genuine characters I've encountered in a while. The stories are written with incredible care--every word is pitch-perfect and yet it's hard to imagine another author using these turns of phrase. Vickers is truly an original.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2016Really good stuff here...darkly humorous, tragically optimistic, depressingly realistic. Each of the stories is interconnected in small, subtle ways which all paint a picture of a small town and the relationships within. I've read it through twice, just to make sure I didn't miss anything the first time around. Awesome!
- Reviewed in the United States on July 9, 2016Enjoyed this collection of stories. Loved how elements of previous stories pop up in later ones. After finishing the last story I was left wanting to read more from this author.
- Reviewed in the United States on June 2, 2016A stunning collection of short stories that reminds us what it means to be human.