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Townies: And Other Stories of Southern Mischief by [Eryk Pruitt]

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Eryk Pruitt

Townies: And Other Stories of Southern Mischief Kindle Edition

by Eryk Pruitt (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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A collection of riveting, funny, and captivating southern fried crime stories from Eryk Pruitt, one of the best new crime fiction writers working today. Townies, and Other Tales of Southern Mischief collects, for the first time, Pruitt's short fiction in a single volume.

The title story, "Townies," details what really happened one night, after hours, in a once popular East Texas sports bar, and the sinister revenge that would soon follow.

"Knacker," the story of a Texan who finds himself homeless in Dublin, Ireland, and willing to sacrifice damn near anything to scratch together what remaining pride he may have lost.

"Let's Be Awful" tells the story of a cocktail waitress who decides that, after a horrid round of revenge porn, her days of playing the victim have past.

In "A Lot Prettier (When You Smile)," we are introduced to a woman who can wrap any man around her finger and decides to put that powerful skill to use one last time.

When a black sheep son comes home to his sick momma's deathbed in "The Only Hell My Momma Ever Raised," he discovers long lost family secrets, as well as how he can use his own set of skills to give her a proper send off.

When Old Man McCarthy turns up dead in the bottoms of "Blood Holler," a cursory investigation turns up an unlikely suspect, which barely scratches the surface of the true implications of the brutal crime.

These and other stories will have you turning the pages to read more of one of the most unique voices in southern fiction.

Print length

204 pages
Language

English
Sticky notes

On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

Polis Books
Publication date

October 16, 2018
Reading age

18 years and up
File size

900 KB
Page Flip

Enabled
Word Wise

Enabled
Enhanced typesetting

Enabled
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Eryk Pruitt
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“A masterly storyteller, Pruitt pulls the reader into a world that zings with authenticity and life. A sterling collection.” ―Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) "Pruitt combines the characters you would find populating the works of Tom Franklin and Cormac McCarthy with the situations and sensibilities of a rural Charles Bukowski...the stories you find in TOWNIES are as real as they can get.” ―Bookreporter “A collection of riveting, funny, and captivating southern-fried crime stories from one of the best new crime fiction writers working today.” ―Criminal Element "Eryk Pruitt establishes himself as a master storyteller with TOWNIES. His captivating characters and unique style bring his stories to a different, primal level that makes reading them a joy.” ―CrimeSpree Magazine Praise for WHAT WE RECKON

"Hardboiled honey packed with razor blades and dynamite, strange and leanly written, and tossed into a tornado; WHAT WE RECKON is the insane love child of James Cain and Jim Thompson, a modern piece of folk lore covered in gasoline and set on fire. This baby rocks like a motel bed during a cheap honeymoon. You need it." ―Joe R. Lansdale, author of HAP & LEONARD and HONKY TONK SAMURAI

“Pruitt delivers an excellent addition to the gritty Southern noir genre. Readers of Hunter S. Thompson and David Joy will enjoy the psychedelic twists and turns as well as the rapid-fire dialog.”― Library Journal(Starred Review)

"Assured prose carries the reader along to the shattering and enigmatic ending.” ―Publishers Weekly

"I'd tell you to remember the name Eryk Pruitt, but after you read WHAT WE RECKON, it'll be impossible to forget. This is Southern noir prepared just the way you like it: Boiled hard, gritty as hell, and aimed straight at your heart." ―Rob Hart, author of THE WOMAN FROM PRAGUE and NEW YORKED

--This text refers to the paperback edition.

About the Author

Eryk Pruitt is a screenwriter, author and filmmaker. He wrote and produced the short film FOODIE which went on to win eight top awards at over sixteen film festivals. His short fiction has appeared in The Avalon Literary Review, Thuglit, Pulp Modern, and Zymbol, among others, and he was a finalist for the Derringer Award. He is the author of the novels DIRTBAGS, HASHTAG, and WHAT WE RECKON, all available from Polis Books. He is the host of the monthly radio show and podcast: The Crime Scene with Eryk Pruitt. He lives in Durham, NC with his wife Lana and their cat Busey. Follow him at @ReverendEryk. --This text refers to the paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B07FN353XF
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Polis Books (October 16, 2018)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 16, 2018
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 900 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 204 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,930,867 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #3,695 in Mystery Anthologies (Kindle Store)
- #5,015 in Mystery Anthologies (Books)
- #26,283 in Single Authors Short Stories

Customer Reviews:
24 ratings

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Eryk Pruitt

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Eryk Pruitt is a screenwriter, author and filmmaker living in Hillsborough, NC with his wife Lana and cat Busey. His short films FOODIE and LIYANA, ON COMMAND have won several awards at film festivals across the US. In 2015, he was a finalist for the Derringer Award for his short story "Knockout.". In 2018, his third novel, WHAT WE RECKON, was nominated for the prestigious Anthony Award. He produced and wrote the eight-part, true crime podcast THE LONG DANCE about the North Carolina Valentine's Murders. His latest novel, SOMETHING BAD WRONG, will be published in Spring of 2023. He can be found either at his desk, hard at work on another story, or mixing drinks at his bar, Yonder, in Hillsborough, NC. A full list of credits can be found at erykpruitt.com.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5

24 global ratings

5 star		60%
4 star		15%
3 star		9%
2 star 0% (0%)		0%
1 star		15%

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Top reviews from the United States

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J. A. Gertzman

violent crime stories on their way to being a lot more

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 20, 2020

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As Anthony Boucher said many years ago about a young writer's breakthrough book, "This is the goods." True of Pruitt. His way of telling the story features a unique voice, with words and single-sentence paragraphs that are somehow irresistible. It's almost as if the ultimate observer has come down to earth to catch the attention of people who are hearing rather than merely reading. And yet the tales are not completely naturalistic. The combine horror, crime, violence, and implicit other-worldliness. "Townies" is a gothic novella set right in the middle of the collection. It's similar to a Jim Thompson thriller, but with vengeance not only common property of a Southern community, but used by unlikely protagonists to cleanse it. Two of the latter crazy Angels have tattoos foreshadowing their uncanny special powers.

One person found this helpful

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Corey Allen Burns

Wow!!!

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 3, 2018

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My favorite form of literature is a well written short story. Eryk Pruitt has shown himself to be a master of that craft with this collection. I have read Mr. Pruitt's crime novels. They are fun and entertaining. I enjoy following him on social media and I really loved his true crime podcast series, The Long Dance. None of those prepared me for how incredible his short stories would be. This collection is an out of the park homerun. I hope there are many more to come.

3 people found this helpful

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Read4Life

Southern Charm

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 23, 2018

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Eryk Pruitt is clearly establishing himself as one of the best new southern fiction writers around. These stories are gritty, funny, violent, heartbreaking, riveting, and unique. Each one is like a delicious Pringle--you can’t stop, and then when you get to the end you just want more (thankfully there are other Pruitt books available). Don’t miss this terrific collection.

One person found this helpful

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Jonathan L. Wesner

Impressive Collection

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 7, 2018

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An excellent collection of parts of speech from Dallas native Eryk Pruitt. Nouns & verbs & adjectives, oh my! Highly recommended, especially for remedial readers in Vidor, Texas.

One person found this helpful

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Natalie Pruitt

Enjoyable & Easy read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 9, 2018

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Very intriguing and interesting!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Great collection of "downhome" crime fiction

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 5, 2021

One of the best short story collections I've read in awhile. Hard hitting crime fiction and noir stories with a rural/country lit or Southern flavor. I was very impressed with how different each of the stories are; usually with an anthology of stories by a single author the content tends to suffer from a certain sameness from one story to the next but that is definitely not the case here. Each story is distinct and different while still being firmly in the realm of crime. Some are humorous, some are sad, some are a little of both. Includes two novella length tales: Townies, which has a touch (just a touch) of Stephen King-like supernatural atmosphere and Blood Holler which is more of a straight noir.

This has been on my TBR pile for so long that I forgot all about it. I'm glad I finally got around to it. This is good stuff! Recommended for anyone who enjoys a dark tale told in "down home" style.

Helpful

S T

Pruitt even stole my review...

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 16, 2018

I had written a long, thought-out review of this book. Referencing Jack London even. Then I went out for coffee with Pruitt and we talked about, as usual, the horrifying things I'd done in public, of my own free will in a small town in the deep south. I was bemoaning my fate, trapped here, in this festering hole of a town, when Pruitt said "The only people who want to live in a small town are the ones who weren't born in it, or the one's who were born there knowing they wouldn't leave." This I think, is a better description of this book than I could ever give, or hope to explain, since I was born here but really hope I'm one that's meant to leave.

I'll add in my Jack London bit, just because...

An Illustrative Comparison of Jack London’s, To Build a Fire, and Eryk Pruitt’s, Townies:

Jack London wrote a story showing us, externally, the unconsciousness, the desperation's and ultimately the destruction of the un-adapted. Internally, it is a commentary on morals, evolution, traditions, and human frailties. We see man face nature and lose, evolution being the true winner of the battle.

In Pruitt’s book we see a social commentary of current times and ides, and we swallow our bile and continue reading (instead of puking into our Make America Great hats) because the writing is really **** good.

I’m a redhead and a townie, myself, and I’d like to say I’m glad that walls can’t talk and three can keep a secret if two are dead. Bless their hearts, the good never live long.

Tl;dr If you **** with a townie, you may end up learning the lesson a way you don’t like. Like the trunk of a car and a long empty stretch of tar.

To Conclude:

“A rat always knows when he’s in with weasels…”
-Tom Waits

One person found this helpful

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Gabriel Valjan

The language sings throughout Townies

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on October 16, 2018

I don’t know what it is about southern writers, but I admire the way they unfold the cadence and rhythm in their storytelling. Writers strive to acquire Voice, and Mr. Pruitt has an evocative, at times hilarious, and lyrical one. The language sings throughout Townies. Pruitt, like Flannery O’Connor, can take something as banal as an argument over overgrown weeds and elevate it into a story riddled with subtext. Beneath the beautiful and arresting musicality of his prose, brutal truths about the lives observed are turned over like rocks for readers to judge on their own. And that is an admirable accomplishment for any writer. Readers may point to Cormac McCarthy and Ron Rash as the best there is today out of the South – and rightfully so – but I’d put Eryk Pruitt in their company. These short stories here are on a par with those from Padgett Powell, with the humor found in Percival Everett, and his ability to create a provocative and memorable visual is as good as any you’ll find in Ann Pancake and Jesmyn Ward. If you’d like to hear what he sounds like, check out his recent podcast called The Long Dance.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Townies.

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Crimefan76

Spellbinding and utterly convincing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 3, 2019

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I love short story collections and I’ve come across some of Eryk Pruitt’s writing in a few crime anthologies, but this was my first experience of a whole book of his work.

His range is impressive – in terms of subject matter, characters and setting – and there’s something here for every fiction fan, from a humorous take on a vengeful tale about profiting via fantasy football to a cruel battle over a lawn mowing route.

The dialogue in every story is convincing and the themes explored – whether it’s violence, the threat of violence, desperation or redemption – are delivered with care an aplomb. Lots of showing not telling, lots of brutality and second guessing, this author has a lot of control over his writing and the stories had me entertained and, in some cases, spellbound.

Walter Bull

Townies

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on March 5, 2021

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Every so often it's good to throw in a short story collection from one author,,or an anthology from several..I find however it is rare to come across a collection where every offering grabs your full attention from start to finish. An excellent incentive to check out this writers other work. Well worth a read.

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