One-Hundred-Knuckled Fist
Stories
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Rare voices in fiction, the lives of the working class consume this collection. Winner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction, One-Hundred-Knuckled Fist brings to life the narratives of midwestern blue-collar workers. In these sixteen stories, author Dustin M. Hoffman invites readers to peek behind the curtain of the invisible-but-ever-present “working stiff” as he reveals their lives in full complexity, offering their gruff voices—so often ignored—without censorship.
The characters at the heart of these stories work with their hands. They strive to escape invisibility. They hunt the ghost of recognition. They are painters, drywall finishers, carpenters, roofers, oil refinery inspectors, and hardscapers, all aching to survive the workday. They are air force firemen, snake salesmen, can pickers, ice-cream truck drivers, and Jamaican tour guides, seething forth from behind the scenes. They are the underemployed laborers, the homeless, the retired, the fired, the children born to break their backs. One-Hundred-Knuckled Fist initiates readers into the secret nightmares and surprising beauty and complexity of a sweat-stained, blue-collar world.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In his debut collection, Hoffman digs into the lives of blue-collar workers including house painters, tour guides, and firemen and average joes to craft 16 tales of success and failure. Suburban subdivisions take center stage in many of the stories, as workers attempt to construct fountains ("One-Hundred-Knuckled Fist") and avoid fist fights ("Sawdust and Glue"), and thieves try to steal equipment to score some quick cash ("We Ride Back"). The best stories find the author subverting reader expectations. "Workmen's Compensation" is cleverly structured to resemble a list of instructions. In "Subdivision Accidents," a painter watches as coworkers gain special powers after losing fingers and arms. "Everything a Snake Needs" begins as a narrative about two feuding reptile salesmen, but transitions into a funny and touching story about working as a team. "Ice-Cream Dream" sees an ice cream truck driver caught in a turf war with other drivers disguised in Jimmy Carter masks, and "The Shepherd's Work" finds a shepherd trying to jump-start his wool business by increasing his flock, only to be constantly interrupted by random swordplay between strangers. Despite the often repetitive scenery, each story contains a unique spark of life, and the joy found on the page makes for a thoroughly memorable read.
