A mysterious man appears suspended in the air above a major American city. A foul-mouthed posse of machete-wielding scoundrels wreak havoc on a small-town mayor. A cocaine-addled boxer starts a torrid affair with the wife of the Invisible Man-who just might be watching (and enjoying) all the freakiness. Darrin Doyle's latest book of short stories is an electrifying look at men behaving badly-or just being weird. Hilarious, madly inventive, and compellingly readable, this unforgettable collection will leave the reader disturbed, dazzled, delirious-and begging for more.
A mysterious man appears suspended in the air above a major American city. A foul-mouthed posse of machete-wielding scoundrels wreak havoc on a small-town mayor. A cocaine-addled boxer starts a torrid affair with the wife of the Invisible Man-who just might be watching (and enjoying) all the freakiness.
Darrin Doyle's latest collection of short stories is an electrifying look at men behaving badly-or just being weird. Hilarious, madly inventive, and compellingly readable, this unforgettable collection will leave the reader disturbed, dazzled, delirious-and begging for more.
"...however you feel about what fiction should do and what fiction should be, you need to read
Scoundrels. You need to read Darrin Doyle. His world vision, his heart, his ability to cut to the core of what makes humanity tick, what makes humanity ugly, what makes humanity beautiful-it all should be required reading for everybody."
- BULL Magazine"What a pleasure it is to read this book! Hilarious, formally inventive, fearless, these stories thrum with brilliance and a deranged, strongly beating heart."
- Andy Mozina, author of Contrary Motion and Quality Snacks
"...Scoundrels Among Us is a majorly imaginative, evocative, and rewarding read. By using welcoming yet graceful language to tell his surprising tales (both abstractly prophetic and casually entertaining), Doyle reveals himself as a skilled storyteller whose mastery of blending of valuable messages, deep characters/situations, and sophisticated writing is a definite asset to the world of modern fiction." - The Bookends Review
"Innocents beware! Darrin Doyle has always put a strong, clear, deceptively rational prose voice at the service of a dangerous imagination. But Scoundrels Among Us takes this paradox to a new, scoundrelly level. In these short and shorter stories, as cleanly worded as ever but mined with vile surprises, a darkly impish, even occasionally malicious wit prevails, playing rough and deliciously dirty in the sandbox of the reader's expectations." - Jaimy Gordon, author of Lord of Misrule, winner of the National Book Award
"One thing I think everyone who picks this up will agree is: Darrin Doyle is a great writer and you should read his stories." - The Irresponsible Reader
"This collection is a revelation: formally and thematically adventurous and wide-ranging, playful, scabrously funny, weird in the best ways." - Michael Griffith, author of Trophy and Bibliophilia
