{"product_id":"creatures-of-habit","title":"Creatures of Habit","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e Jill McCorkle's new collection of twelve short stories is peopled with characters brilliantly like us-flawed, clueless, endearing. These stories are also animaled with all manner of mammal, bird, fish, reptile-also flawed and endearing. She asks, what don't humans share with the so-called lesser species? Looking for the answer, she takes us back to her fictional home town of Fulton, North Carolina, to meet a broad range of characters facing up to the double-edged sword life offers hominids. The insight with which McCorkle tells their stories crackles with wit, but also with a deeper-and more forgiving-wisdom than ever before. In Billy Goats, Fulton's herd of seventh graders cruises the summer nights, peeking into parked cars, maddening the town madman. In Monkeys, a widow holds her husband's beloved spider monkey close along with his deepest secrets. In Dogs, a single mother who works for a veterinarian compares him-unfavorably-with his patients. In Snakes, a seasoned wife sees what might have been a snake in the grass and decides to step over it. And, in the exquisite final story, Fish, a grieving daughter remembers her father's empathy for the ugliest of all fishes. The success behind Jill McCorkle's short stories-and her novels-is, as one reviewer noted, her skill as an archaeologist of the absurd, an expert at excavating and examining the comedy of daily life (Richmond Times-Dispatch). Yes, and also the tragedy. \u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Workman Publishing","offers":[{"title":"9781565123977","offer_id":21408749255,"sku":"9781565123977","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"9781565127203","offer_id":41379804184753,"sku":"9781565127203","price":9.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1210\/1100\/products\/9781565127203-optimized_1c969024-2038-4a2a-b55b-a8f6aa44b56b.jpg?v=1698377166","url":"https:\/\/workman-feed-prod.myshopify.com\/products\/creatures-of-habit","provider":"zzz_Workman Publishing","version":"1.0","type":"link"}