Showing results for "Craig Lancaster" in Literary Fiction

A 39-year-old with Asperger’s syndrome and obsessive-compulsive disorder, Edward Stanton lives alone on a rigid schedule in the Montana town where he grew up. His carefully constructed routine includes tracking his most common waking time (7:38 a.m.), refusing to start his therapy sessions even a minute before the appointed hour (10:00 a.m.), and watching one episode of the 1960s cop show Dragnet each night (10:00 p.m.). But when a single mother and her nine-year-old son move in across the street, Edward’s timetable comes undone....

Change keeps stalking Edward Stanton. He and his new wife, Sheila, have retreated to his small house in Montana after an unsuccessful attempt at operating a motel in Colorado. That failure has left wounds, especially for Sheila, and now they face a bigger challenge: pregnancy and impending parenthood. Edward begins penning notes to the child (ever precise, he refers to the gestating being as "Cellular Stanton"), as he navigates married life with Sheila, who is unhappy and unfulfilled in Montana; a work partnership with his friend Scott Shamwell, and more.

That’s the flummoxed state of Edward Stanton, a 42-year-old with Asperger’s syndrome. His job, his therapist, and his best friends are all gone. Even his nightly ritual of watching Dragnet reruns has short-circuited. But a call from his friend Donna in Idaho, telling him that her son Kyle is in trouble, launches Edward from his rigidly scheduled existence in Billings, Montana, to the open road. He and Kyle, a sweet little boy turned sullen adolescent, debate football, music, and bodily functions (“Why do you pee so much?” Kyle asks).

In the sweltering heat of a Montana July, the small town of Grandview readies for its annual Jamboree. The event is meant to celebrate community, but this year tensions boil over, threatening to tear the town, and a family, apart.

Er schuldete einer Menge Leute etwas, aber ich war der einzige der noch übrig war, um die Schulden einzutreiben. Ich sagte mir, dass ich mich nicht um ihn schere. Nur darum, was er mir schuldet, was auch immer das genau war. Das habe ich wirklich versucht zu glauben. Als Mitch Quillens Leben aus den Fugen gerät, fürchtet er, dass es keinen Ausweg gibt. Seine Ehe sowie seine Karriere scheitern und die Beziehung zu seinem Vater ist seit Jahrzenten ein Desaster.

Carson McCullough has given his career to a singular pursuit - putting out a small daily newspaper that keeps his employees engaged and his hometown informed. But as time and technology conspire against him, Carson's Argus-Dispatch is shuttered by a new owner with a different view of its future. Stung by the abrupt end of his career and burdened by regret and grudges, Carson and his one true companion, a yellow Lab named Hector, set out on a road trip.