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August 28, 2019
George Singleton's Playlist for His Story Collection "Staff Picks"
In the Book Notes series, authors create and discuss a music playlist that relates in some way to their recently published book.
Previous contributors include Jesmyn Ward, Lauren Groff, Bret Easton Ellis, Celeste Ng, T.C. Boyle, Dana Spiotta, Amy Bloom, Aimee Bender, Heidi Julavits, Hari Kunzru, and many others.
George Singleton's latest collection, Staff Picks, is filled with dark and funny stories whose characters will remain with you.
Chris Offutt wrote of the book:
"George Singleton is the quintessential Southern writer of today. He writes the way we live―reckless, fearless, and wild, ready to love and laugh with abandon. I read everything he writes. Everybody should."
In his own words, here is George Singleton's Book Notes music playlist for his short fiction collection Staff Picks:
“Staff Picks”
“Take the Skinheads Bowling,” Camper van Beethoven. I choose this song only because there’s a semi-professional bowler in this story named Landry Harmon. He shows up for about six pages in the entire book, and is a minor character, yet for some reason the cover of the collection has bowling pins on it. Are bowlers known as readers of short stories, too? I don’t get the marketing ploy…
“Columbus Day”
“Psycho Killer,” Talking Heads. Lisette’s obsessed with all of those cable shows about murderers: Forensic Files, et al. And most of the story takes place in an American mall, where, I firmly believe, psycho killers develop.
“Hex Keys”
This is a story about a flawed father, doing the best he can as a single parent, taking his only child on a trip to meet women who could’ve been the boy’s mother, had the father’s past been a little different. It might be best read while listening to “The Sunnyside of the Street,” by the Pogues.
“Four-Way Stop”
This is a sad story, which takes place on Halloween, about a couple’s son killed in a car wreck. They go through the motions, as one is wont to say. Additionally, there’s a homeless family that show up trick-or-treating. “House Where Nobody Lives, by Tom Waits, works on a couple different levels.
“Trombones, Not Magic”
“Call of the Wreckin' Ball,” by X. There’s a mention of a man missing a finger, after a mis-chop while trying to kill a chicken. Enough said, there.
“Gloryland”
As anyone who knows me will attest, I might live in the South, but I ain’t one to mope around thinking about the Civil War non-stop. Or at all. There’s a guy named Dickie Land in this story, which causes “Dixie Land” to enter the narrator’s head every time he—the narrator—talks to Dickie Land (who is simple-minded). But I choose “Dixie Chicken” by Little Feat because, well, it’s a great song, and I signed a book recently for Bill Payne, the pianist on this song.
“Linguistic Fallacies and Facial Tics, Sex Ed and Death”
This is a story about an uncle taking his nephew to an Optimist Club Meeting, wherein an oratory competition takes place. Later, the uncle and nephew drive past a slew of cast-off items from a pick-up truck. The uncle’s name is Cush. “Cush,” in slang, refers to someone doing the right thing. Public Enemy’s “Fight the Power” fits here, seeing as it was in the movie Do the Right Thing.
“Flag Day”
Frat boys bug a normal electrician and his wife, working on a fancy lake house. The main character gets a message from the vacation rental’s owner to raise a confederate flag on the pole. The frat boys make some threats from across a cove. Electrician and wife turn to revenge. “If I Can’t Change Your Mind,” by Sugar, works for me.
“Resisting Separation”
This story is about a narrator getting stuck in the presence of a man who peaked in high school, and who expects the narrator to remember everything about their high school days. The narrator’s moved on. Maybe “Fuck School” by the Replacements works for this story.
“Probate”
Oh, man, this story is slightly autobiographical, when I had to have a dog put down over a holiday, and a euthanasiast had to come by. Sad story. The dog in real-life was a black chow-mix named Maggie, so I have to pick…“Black Dog” by Led Zeppelin.
“Eclipse”
This story has to do with the ghost of Willie Earle, a man lynched in Greenville, South Carolina back in 1947. It’s a ghost story. “Strange Fruit” by the great Billie Holiday.
“Rinse Cycle”
This story is about grief, guilt, and a motel swimming pool. It’s about discomfort. There’s a kid whose parents are so poor that they make the kid put on the family members’ dirty clothes and swim in a local pool, every Sunday night. “Laundromat Blues,” by Albert King.
“One More”
Here’s a story about a scam. There’s a death in the family, a scam, and a dead uncle with an inordinate amount of porn found in his office drawer. “Satellite” by Elvis Costello. Weird song.
“Everything’s Wild”
It’s a story about a confused widower, unable to keep up with his weekly poker players anymore. The main character, too, works at a plant nursery. His dead wife’s cremains are in one of the compost bins. This one’s kind of sad, too, now that I think about it. Jesus, I almost picked “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga. What was I thinking? Nope, this one goes best with “The Card Cheat” by the Clash.
George Singleton and Staff Picks links:
the author's website
the author's Wikipedia entry
Alabama Public Radio review
Knoxville News review
Largehearted Boy Book Notes essay by the author for Between Wrecks
Largehearted Boy Book Notes essay by the author for Calloustown
Largehearted Boy Book Notes essay by the author for Drowning in Gruel
Largehearted Boy Book Notes essay by the author for Stray Decorum
Largehearted Boy Book Notes essay by the author for Work Shirts for Madmen
Arts & Letters interview with the author
also at Largehearted Boy:
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Book Notes (2015 - ) (authors create music playlists for their book)
Book Notes (2012 - 2014) (authors create music playlists for their book)
Book Notes (2005 - 2011) (authors create music playlists for their book)
my 11 favorite Book Notes playlist essays
Antiheroines (interviews with up and coming female comics artists)
Atomic Books Comics Preview (weekly comics highlights)
guest book reviews
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly Books of the Week (recommended new books, magazines, and comics)
musician/author interviews
Note Books (musicians discuss literature)
Short Cuts (writers pair a song with their short story or essay)
Shorties (daily music, literature, and pop culture links)
Soundtracked (composers and directors discuss their film's soundtracks)
weekly music release lists
