Here We Are in Paradise: Stories

Eight beautifully crafted tales illuminate the lives of 20th-century North Carolinians in this debut collection from Earley, whose work has been published in Harper's , Tri-Quarterly and other literary periodicals. With quirky ruefulness, he narrates the experiences of ordinary people who may or may not matter to anyone but themselves. In ``Charlotte'' (which also appears in Best American Short Stories 1993 ), the manager of a bar recalls an epic battle between two professional wrestlers in the days before ``Frannie Belk gathered up all the good and evil in our city and sold it four hours south''--to Atlanta, where the wrestlers now fight on TBS. The narrator of both ``Aliceville'' and ``Story of Pictures'' chronicles his Depression-era boyhood, remembering how glimpses of a flock of geese and a woman bathing in a pond awakened him to the world outside his hometown. ``My Father's Heart'' captures the bittersweet longing of a boy who knew his father only through the memories of others. In each of these stories, Earley deftly weaves together several thematic strands to create complex, richly rewarding fiction. His tales connect with the heart. (Feb.)