Surreal satire meets Southern gothic tall tale in this disturbing yet hilarious tale of a South Carolina taxidermist who participates in a research study at the Center for Cybernetic Neuroscience in Atlanta, Georgia. After “scientists” download humanities disciplines into his brain, the enhanced taxidermist returns to his hometown ready to revolutionize his work and revive his failed marriage. (read more)
Praise for The New and Improved Romie Futch
“Romie Futch is imbued equally with the loopy lyricism of Barry Hannah and the whacked out paranoia of Philip K. Dick, the joyous farce of John Kennedy Toole, and the digital dystopia of William Gibson . . . . Elliott’s rambunctious tale snarls and growls on every page, aiming to plunge its lovely gnarled tusks right into the reader’s heart.”
—New York Times Book Review
“VERDICT: A send-up of self-improvement schemes and self-serving science, this wise and funny book by Elliott (The Wilds) treats its characters tenderly and glimmers at the end.”
—Library Journal (Starred Review)
Teetering between the ridiculous and the sublime, this genre-bending debut collection blends Southern gothic strangeness with dystopian absurdities, sci-fi speculations, and fairy-tale transformations. (read more)
Praise for The Wilds
- Kirkus names The Wilds one of the best books of the 2014
- BuzzFeed Books names The Wilds one of the 24 Best Fiction Books of 2014
- The Wilds is on Book Riot’s Best of 2014 list
- The Wilds is a New York Times Editors’ Choice
- The Wilds is on Electric Literature’s list “25 Best Short Story Collections of 2014″
- The Wilds named an Outstanding Collection by the Story Prize, 2014
“Elliott makes us hear contemporary English in a new way.”
—The New York Times Book Review
“The debut collection from Pushcart Prize–winning Elliott is a brilliant combination of emotion and grime, wit and horror. . . . Elliott’s gift of vernacular is remarkable, and her dark, modern spin on Southern Gothic creates tales that surprise, shock, and sharply depict vice and virtue.”
—Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)