Unkempt

In the seven stories and one novella collected in Unkempt, Courtney Eldridge gives life to characters of astounding originality.

Probing the darker corners of the human psyche, she shows—with a sly and unexpected sense of humor—the neurotic mind at work, the skewed perspective of an alcoholic parent, the nature of sexual conquest, and the hazards of working in retail.

The collection tracks—without a trace of pity—a tenant who body-slams her door to test its dead bolt, and a woman convinced that mutant sharks haunt a city pool. Eldridge captures a retail clerk trapped behind a stationery counter by an erratic customer, charting polite routine as it unspools into panic.

Her writing exposes an adult film star settling into league bowling. These narratives track a wheelchair-bound dieter who inundates an acquaintance’s machine with unceasing advice and medical complaints.

Fresh, funny, and candid, Eldridge’s writing delivers a new and marvellous vision of life.
Black Humor: In "Fits & Starts," an agonized writer counts out five-word sentences on her fingers and weighs whether the threat of dancing her unfinished stories could cure three months of creative paralysis.Unreliable Narrator: A woman loops through the same subway commute and painful childhood memories on her way to a combative tax appointment with an accountant named Klaus on Canal Street, in "Summer of Mopeds."Also by This Author: The Generosity of Women.