From the Midway

"In From the Midway, this richly researched collection transports readers to the midway of a carnival traveling through the Jim Crow South where we meet the carnival owners, a carousel operator, the geek, dancing girls, several performers displayed as oddities and the African American laborers charged with tending them. The final story crosses the ocean, underscoring the the power and mystery of unexpected connections. Lyrical descriptions of the physical environs and the emotional landscape of each character function like a funhouse mirror, providing just enough distance and distortion to see ourselves more clearly. The sharply striated world of a century ago aptly reflects the tensions, divisions, and perennial shared yearning for redemption and belonging that mark us as human."--