Five Hundred Poor

"An honest glimpse at how the other half lives and how the other half dies that should inspire us to try harder."—Jared Yates Sexton, author of The People Are Going To Rise Like The Waters Upon Your Shore

From acclaimed author, Noah Milligan, comes a short story collection, Five Hundred Poor. The title comes from Adam Smith’s The Wealth of Nations, “Wherever there is great property there is great inequality. For one very rich man there must be at least five hundred poor, and the affluence of the few supposes the indigence of the many. The affluence of the rich excites the indignation of the poor, who are often both driven by want, and prompted by envy, to invade his possessions.”

These are ten stories of those five hundred poor, the jaded, the disillusioned, and the disenfranchised.

"Noah Milligan writes about Oklahoma in such an uncanny, dark, compelling way."—Brandon Hobson, author of Where The Dead Sit Talking

Noah Milligan's other books:
An Elegant Theory
Into Captivity They Will Go.

"Noah Milligan writes about Oklahoma in such an uncanny, dark, compelling way."–Brandon Hobson, author of Where The Dead Sit Talking

"An honest glimpse at how the other half lives and how the other half dies that should inspire us to try harder."–Jared Yates Sexton, author of The People Are Going To Rise Like The Waters Upon Your Shore

“Noah Milligan possesses a concise mastery of language and a sharp lens through which he sees the world. The characters he delivers in “Five Hundred Poor,” his engaging collection of short stories, are at once vivid and impossible to ignore. They have both heart and soul. They challenged and inspired me.”–Jennifer Haupt, author of In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills

“Noah Milligan possesses a concise mastery of language and a sharp lens through which he sees the world." —Jennifer Haupt, author, In the Shadow of 10,000 Hills

"The stories in Five Hundred Poor conspire to create a sad and familiar world, with characters whose lives offer hope among tragedy. Noah Milligan writes about Oklahoma in such an uncanny, dark, compelling way. He is a very gifted writer, and I look forward to reading more of his work." —Brandon Hobson, author of Where the Dead Sit Talking

"Full of unflinchingly honest stories that are, at times, shocking brutal and surprisingly tender, this is a living, breathing portrait of the world we live in." —Jared Yates Sexton, author of The People Are Going To Rise Like The Waters Upon Your Shore: A Story of American Rage

"I can feel the authenticity of voice and character and place in this collection. If that matters to you dear reader, the way it matters to me, this is one to get and read and have and keep. This is Milligan’s second work out with Central Avenue Publishing after his acclaimed novel, An Elegant Theory, a more than worthy followup, and, I’m sure, part of a line of more good stuff to come." —Adam Van Winkle, Cowboy Jamboree

"Quirky and compelling, Five Hundred Poor offers a memorable tour through a region often too dismissively regarded as 'flyover country.'" —Meg Nola, Foreword Reviews