Jim Grimsley

Winner of the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Sue Kaufman Prize for First Fiction. On a snowy Thanksgiving day in North Carolina, a dreamy eight-year-old is pushed headlong into the adult world by a violent quarrel between his parents. Jim Grimsley's brilliant first novel unfolds in a strikingly unconventional way—as the boy tells himself his own story. A shattering story of heartbreak, violence, and the endurance of the spirit. "Tell everyone."—Dorothy...

"The trailer Ronny grew up in was never a home; at least not in the sense of a haven. He shared it with his mother and a succession of husbands, learning to keep to himself, get good grades, work toward a scholarship (since no one was going to pay for college other than him). At the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Ronny's made some friends, kept his secrets, survived dorm life, and protected his heart. Until he can't. Ben is in some ways...

Newell never really belonged in Pastel, Alabama. Ready for a change, he buys a one-way ticket to New Orleans. It's 1978 and the rambunctious city beckons with its famous promise of bright lights, excitement, and men everywhere. Newell finds a job in a pornographic bookstore and rents a room in the French Quarter. His good nature, good looks, and a daring stunt in a popular bar make him a quick favorite. Soon he has friends. Some are harmless, like...

A romance between two Southern gay men who come from different social classes: one is a doctor from an old Savannah family, who's never come out to his family; the other's mother hails from the backwoods of North Carolina, yet she is accepting of her HIV-positive son and only wants him to be happy. Everything comes together--or apart--one Christmas.