Art's Place

The 27 stories in Michael Fedo's collection are whimsical, satirical, and laugh-out-loud funny. They are wide-ranging: a chance meeting in Hannibal, Missouri of the James Boys where Frank and Jesse encounter William and Henry; Mozart in the mosh pit; a mortuary tv infomercial; quilting as an Olympic sport; a working-class bar at which patrons' harangues center on poetry and art instead of pro football or monster truck competitions: a nursing home where modern residents demand punk and classic rock music from visiting entertainers, rather than the syrupy standards of decades past. Interspersed throughout the book are witty riffs on media critics of music, literature, and art, along with other surprises and guffaws.