Knockemstiff [Paperback]

More engaging than any new fiction in years.  —Chuck Palahniuk

An unforgettable work of fiction that peers into the soul of a tough Midwestern American town to reveal the sad, stunted but resilient lives of its residents. Knockemstiff is a genuine entry into the literature of place.

Spanning a period from the mid-sixties to the late nineties, the linked stories that comprise Knockemstiff feature a cast of recurring characters who are irresistibly, undeniably real. A father pumps his son full of steroids so he can vicariously relive his days as a perpetual runner-up body builder. A psychotic rural recluse comes upon two siblings committing incest and feels compelled to take action. Donald Ray Pollock presents his characters and the sordid goings-on with a stern intelligence, a bracing absence of value judgments, and a refreshingly dark sense of bottom-dog humor.

“Knockemstiff is a powerful, remarkable, exceptional book.

—Los Angeles Times

 

“More engaging than any new fiction in years.”

—Chuck Palahniuk

 

“Pollock’s voice is fresh and full-throated…His steely, serrated prose…calls to mind Harry Crews.”

—The New York Times Book Review

 

“[Donald Ray Pollock] could be the next important voice in American fiction.”

—Wall Street Journal

 

“These are absorbing stories that linger and haunt. They crept up on me, leaving me breathless and shaken.”