Troglodyte

THE BOOK: Troglodyte.

PUBLISHED IN: 2014.

THE AUTHOR: Tracy DeBrincat.

THE EDITOR: Dana Curtis.

THE PUBLISHER: Elixir Press.

THE SUMMARY: “Moon is cotton & she laugh all night,” whispers the hippo to the gazelle after rescuing her. And so the female protagonists in these stories attempt to save themselves and others with prayers and promises, illusions and fantasies. Twelve-year-old Dora observes her own demise and attempts to prevent her brother Porter from meeting the same fate. An adolescent resents the intrusion of a new baby into an already crowded family. A runaway teen finds refuge in the basement of a single mother and her daughter. Lydia obsesses over a stranger’s toupee while she wrestles with a proposal. On the eve of her fiftieth birthday, Chichi goes home to see her mother after 25 years. These 11 stories of isolation and desire are told with whimsy and humor against the strange wonder of a uniquely Californian landscape.

THE BACK STORY: I’m not an obsessive person but if I were, I’d be obsessed with people and their obsessions. For this collection, I sifted through my personal archive of humiliation, awkward moments, pain, desire, sorrow and joy to consider alternate avenues of experience.

WHY THIS TITLE: A troglodyte is a human cave dweller, from the Greek “trogle” (hole or mouse-hole) and “dyein” “go in, dive in.” These stories dive into the holes in their characters’ hearts to find what’s there or what’s missing.

WHY WOULD SOMEONE WANT TO READ IT?  You don’t need to be a Troglodyte to read this book, but if you are, it might help you understand yourself better.

REVIEW COMMENTS:

“These stories, over and over, are smart, funny, deeply human, and teeming with vibrancy. If the collection had any more life to it, it’d walk right off the bookshelf.” — Aimee Bender, award-winning, bestselling author of The Color Master and The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake,among others.

“Tracy DeBrincat’s extraordinary collection presents a myriad of narrators with an intensely engaging voice, all created by a writer who makes me want to pop out my front door and dive deeper into the private lives of people all around me. I am certain this is just the beginning of a stunning romance for fiction lovers everywhere.” — Melissa Chadburn, essayist, short story writer, author of A Tiny Upward Shove, forthcoming from Farrar, Straus & Giroux.

“Tracy DeBrincat’s collection stirs the pot of personalities and boils up the most unpredictable bunch ever. Whimsical, laugh-out-loud hysterical at times, Troglodyte is a must have for any larger-than-life woman who finds herself making decisions for happiness’ sake when sanity isn’t an option.” — Melanie Page,Grab the Lapels. 

AUTHOR PROFILE:  Tracy DeBrincat is the author of the prize-winning short story collections Troglodyte (publication January 2014 by Elixir Press) and Moon Is Cotton & She Laugh All Night (Subito Press, 2010). Black Lawrence Press published her prize-winning nove Hollywood Buckaroo  n 2012. Her short stories and poetry have appeared in journals from Another Chicago Magazine and Zyzzyva. San Francisco is her hometown, but she has lived half her life in Los Angeles, where she is a freelance creative advertising consultant. She is currently working on a coming-of-age adventure, Once Upon a Coyote.

AUTHOR COMMENTS: Writing a novel is like sitting down to a meal that lasts a really long time, going outside to smoke a cigarette in the parking lot between courses, and returning to the table only to find out that you are in a different country. That’s why I also write short stories.

SAMPLE CHAPTER:  www.tracydebrincat.com

LOCAL OUTLETS: Small Press Distribution. https://www.spdbooks.org/Products/9781932418484/troglodyte.aspx.

WHERE ELSE TO BUY IT. Amazon.

PRICE: $19.

CONTACT THE AUTHOR:  www.tracydebrincat.com