Rest Area : Stories [Hardcover]

Clay McLeod Chapman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2002

Clay Chapmans characters dont turn heads or perform dramatic feats of heroism. They arent highly educated or well-traveled. Their backgrounds and circumstances are unexceptional. Their stories, however, are anything but. Originating as a series of enthusiastically received monologues that this twenty-four-year-old author has performed around the country and abroad, Rest Area leads us into the minds of characters as real as they are original, and through a series of domestic horror stories that will leave readers breathless with amazement.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This debut collection reveals a playwright's fondness for edgy, frightening setups. Chapman who got his start as a playwright at the age of 12 and later honed his one-man act at the International Fringe Festival takes as his form of choice a sort of transliterated monologue. This ingenious device diverts at first, but few of these vignettes they're not quite "stories" progress beyond establishing a bizarre or ironic situation, and many read like half-cooked campfire yarns. There are some clever sketches demonstrating what the others might have become with a lighter touch and more polish. The unholy carnival of "Rodeo Inferno" is enjoyably creepy, and "Second Helping," about a pack of Cub Scouts run feral, is gleefully gruesome. But the book is marred by heavy-handed language, as in "Honey Well Hung," which attempts a symbolic conflation of chicken coops and a frustrated, infertile farm couple, yielding such regrettable moments as "Couldn't tell you how many times I pecked away at her, hoping to crack into that yolk." The premises can also be predictable and cumbersome: in the title story, a man who last saw his little girl at a rest stop with his car keys months ago can't figure out the odor coming from his trunk: "I know she's close. God, sometimes I can almost smell her, she feels so close." Actors, spoken-word enthusiasts and camp counselors in search of rough-edged material will enjoy this, but short story lovers should look elsewhere. (Feb.)Forecast: Sales may see a bump in the New York area, as publication coincides with the opening of Chapman's off-Broadway play.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Short stories in the form of monologs are nothing new, but Chapman's first collection of 20 makes the form seem so. In the title story, a father waits for his daughter at the rest stop where she disappeared months before. In "Pool Witch," three boys dare to scale the highest water slide. Their objectives: to toss the lifeguard in before their own glorious descent. In "Spoonfed," a story with unsettling overtones, a 16-year-old boy relates how he cares for his younger handicapped sister, and in the powerful and tragic "And the Mothers Stepped Over Their Sons," a woman narrates the loss of her asthmatic soldier son as she searches for his body in a field of dead young men. Chapman has been writing since the age of 12 and performing his monologs in the United States and abroad for many years. Amazingly, he manages to squeeze character, plot, setting, and background into each. There is nothing corny or cute, labored or false; instead, there is bold, honest realism. For contemporary short story collections. Mary Szczesiul, Roseville P.L., MI
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Theia (February 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 078686737X
• ISBN-13: 978-0786867370
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,343,138 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rest Area, December 22, 2002

By 

William A Henshaw (Richmond, Virginia United States-Clay's Grandfather) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rest Area (Audio CD)

I feel without reservation the Clay McLeod Chapman is a talented, skillful, imaginative writer. This collection of short stories can make provacative reading in small portions to digest between readings.I have seen some of Chapman's PUMPKIN PIE SHOWS wherein he and other actors narrate his tales injecting some humor and all the required intonations of a drama.Remarkable watching which is mirrored in the Rest Area reading.This authors first novel I find to be a valid measure of his continuing progress as an author. Having just completed an Advance Reader's Copy of Miss Corpus I think Chapman's growth is quite apparent in this moving, macabre and painfully detailed story of death and dispair. Two totally different love stories that come
crashing together. I digress

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Short, but powerful, February 5, 2002

By 

A O Cazola (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rest Area : Stories (Hardcover)

Clay McLeod Chapman has transferred his passion for dialogue very nicely into this attractive and important short fiction collection.

Coming froma drama background, Chapman is an expert at writing monologues. Rest Area is an expansion of some of his favourites. These stories are funny and rich; sad and dark. Chapman's evocative style presents his subjects not in a flattering light, but in the light that they are destined to have shone upon them. Like the characters in his plays, these people are flawed and real.

From an avid reader of short fiction, Rest Area is definitely worth picking up. The stories are very smart without falling into the esoteric category that kills so many other collections. A perfect balance of themes and characters ensures that the reader is captivated from first to last pages. The stories are jewels: short and concise; not a wasted word.

An excellent debut for a promising young writer.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Creative, exciting and intense, January 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Rest Area : Stories (Hardcover)

Great work...I've seen Clay's plays in NY and am touched by the marriage of creativity, humor and other emotions. A strong recommendation for a discerning reader.