Grass Fires - Gerber, Dan

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Résumé :
The varied inhabitants of Brainard, Michigan, examine their lives and losses in distinct, matter-of-fact voices. A heart attack victim crashes into his brother-in-law's funeral parlor in the title story; the deaf-mute of Conversation begins his tale with the simple sentence, I don't think I've really had a conversation with anyone since my father died. Dan Gerber's characters are capable of extraordinary compassion and everyday cruelty, and reveal themselves in an unnerving series of layers.

Biographie:

Dan Gerber was born and grew up in western Michigan and received his bachelor's degree from Michigan State University in 1962. He has worked as a corporate executive, an automobile dealer, a professional racing driver, and a high school teacher. From 1968 through 1972, with Jim Harrison, he co-edited the literary magazine Sumac. He has traveled extensively as a journalist, particularly in Africa. He has been writer-in-residence at Michigan State University and Grand Valley State College and has lectured, read, and taught at numerous colleges, universities, libraries, schools, and museums throughout the United States and England. He and his wife, Debbie, divide their year between central California and southeastern Idaho.

Dan Gerber has published three novels, a short-story collection and six books of poems, including A Last Bridge Home; New Selected Poems and Trying to Catch the Horses. He was the recipient of the Michigan Author Award in 1992, had work selected for inclusion in Best American Poetry 1999, and received the Mark Twain Award for Distinguished Contributions to Midwestern Literature in 2001.