Same Place, Same Things: Stories

Louisiana is a state like no other. Why is it so strange? Mostly because of the people who live there, some of whom constitute the characters in this quirky collection of short stories, the first collection by Tim Gautreaux. There's a cold-feeling grandfather who is forced to raise his infant grandchild after his own child dies and who knows little more than to offer shotgun shells as toys; a pump repairman during the Great Depression who runs from the death of a farmer and his pursuing wife; and a drunken train engineer who crashes with a cargo of chemicals and becomes a fugitive.