Named by Buzzfeed Books as one of the 22 Most Exciting Literary Debuts of 2014, ?
The Dunning Man features anti-heroes who reject society's rules. Characters from all walks of life--a rogue hip-hop star, a blackjack dealing mom, a middle-aged drunk plowing through his inheritance, and an empty-nester housewife trying to make peace with the past. These are powerful tales of truth seekers imbued with larger-than-life personalities and the all-consuming need to find something worth seeking.
Praise for
The Dunning Man:
The stories in The Dunning Man are funny, explosive, and disarmingly moving... [they] pulse with life, and the men and women who figure in them are real people, working people. People like you and me. It's good to read about them again. ?-ESQUIRE
This short collection seems like a sampler platter from a writer who may well have a fictional feast in him. -Kirkus Reviews
The mostly Irish American characters in Kevin Fortuna's?The Dunning Man?(Lavender Ink) should know better by now. That they don't (repeating their trespasses again and again) is what makes them so compelling and all too real. These characters may be the architects of their own disasters, but you also get the sense Fortuna is giving them one last roll of the dice. ?-Parade
It's gritty, vice-filled, and sometimes violent, but also incredibly honest and redemptive. -BuzzFeed Books, named as one of the 22 Most Exciting Literary Debuts of 2014
From fellow writers:
Kevin Fortuna's complex and compelling ?characters can't be separated from the equally rich family drama and surprising twists of his narratives, always the sign of a real writer. I'm in awe of this man's imagination and this story collection. A wonderful debut.
![The Dunning Man [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/7/1/5/2_311279.jpg)