Charity - Hardcover

Take "Where Blue Is Blue." Here, a gang of deadbeat men spend their days hanging around the beach in their shark-fishing town. When a contortionist from a visiting circus turns up dead and dismembered in the bay, they are the ones willing to trawl for hands, ears, etc., in exchange for a bit of liquor cash. (Mangled and deformed body parts appear in other stories, too: cleft palates, a club foot, and a boy with a tail.) As Richard sketches these men's days, he hands out just enough and just the right details. At the same time, he manages to articulate the elusive way in which these misfits have a meaningful understanding of the sea--and what it promises those close to it. Such balance is more than Charity's saving grace: it's the reason why Richard's book is a tantalizing read.

"Indisputably a master of words...."
--Publishers Weekly

"There are few writers today whose use of language is as sure, whose dialogue is as quirky, funny and true as Mark Richard's."
--The Wall Street Journal

"A book of memorable language and moral power. Mark Richard sees far into the hearts of the lost and voiceless people who seem to be everywhere among us, awaiting recognition."
--Tom McGuane

"You feel a wonderful physical mind in the work of Mark Richard...I love his work."
--Barry Hannah