A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts is a collection of stories, rooted in the Midwest, for those of us who suddenly find ourselves displaced, tourists in our own lives.
Reminiscent of the work of Lorrie Moore and Jill McCorkle, this ten-story collection features the sweetly off-beat love story "Jubilation, FL," where two highly unlikable people share dairy products, and "the Faithful," a funny yet tender story about a family torn apart by their beautiful mother Kitty, who will not give up her coyote fur or cat's-eye sunglasses for anything. We also meet land-locked mermaids and a twisted Camp Fire Girl troupe who will do anything to sell the most P-Nutties in history. The collection includes the riotous "The Last Rites," featuring Zimmer, a rock idol who "had always wanted to be buried in his 1953 Cadillac Eldorado convertible" and is not disappointed.
Kelby's stories have appeared on National Public Radio's "Selected Shorts," on NPR's CD Travel Tales, and in the prestigious New Stories from the South: Best of 2006.
N.M. Kelby is the author of The Constant Art of Being a Writer and several novels, including the best seller In the Company of Angels, and is working on the movie Whale Season with Dwight Yoakam.
