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WINNER OF THE FIRST ANNUAL TARTT SHORT FICTION AWARD

"With all the innovation of the best surrealism, and the memorable, conflicted characters of the gritty realism, The Longest Pregnancy defies categorization and genre, and instead takes the reader on a journey full of beautiful surprises. A truly unique collection"

--Gina Fragello, My Sister's Continent

204 pages

ISBN: 0-930501-27-6 Library Binding $25.00

ISBN: 0-930501-27-8 Trade Paper $14.95

Excerpt From the Book:

   To us, they will always be the family that swims with sharks. They will shuffle around with sun-bleached hair and bronze skin, rough knees and elbows from years of submersion in salty waters. They will continue to receive discounts at the Food Lion where their grandparents and great-grandparents shopped before there even was a shark show. Around town, people will recall a time when the apartments along Torrence Avenue were freshly painted and nearly every storefront displayed a tiny rubber shark.
   Though it’s been years since the tourists visited our town, the red awnings that line the beach still stand. Now the boardwalk creaks in the faintest of winds and Saturday afternoons pass without interruption. We spend days at home mowing our lawns, complaining to our wives, feeling the weight of regret circle our knees.
   The shark swimmers’ shows were once a common weekend activity. Before each show, small, dark men in caps released the sharks from their pens. The sharks sped through the water, streamlined bodies thrashing the waves. The shark swimmers trained the sharks from the moment they first lured them to the southeastern shore. During noon feedings, when we weren’t in school, we watched the men toss chunks of tuna or dolphin to the sharks, heir upper jaws snapping forward over vicious points of teeth. We jumped, bumped against each other. The four of us were like that—always together. We had been classmates since the first grade and we thought we knew everything about each other’s lives.