The Western Lonesome Society

Overview

In this hilarious, poignant, over-the-top Western, readers are introduced to Jim O'Brien who is writing a quixotic saga of his ancestors who grew up with a tribe of Comanche. As his grip on reality loosens, O'Brien weaves into his tale an RV trip through the soul of the west and includes a whole host of characters such as modern day stalkers, drug dealers, secret agents, strippers, a mad linguist, an imaginary­ ther­apist, and Ernest Hemingway. Having been displaced, each of the char­acters must embark on the great American quest for a place to truly call home.

Reviews

 "Robe­t McBrear­ty's stories occupy a fascinating world where the daft becomes hear­tfelt, the dangerous becomes ordinary, and the ordinary becomes downright odd. A world, in other words, seen through a pane of absurdist old glass."  —David Wroblewski, author, The Story of Edgar Sawtelle

 "McBrearty has a flair for the comic."  —Chicago Tribune

"McBrearty's writing is simultaneously poignant and hilarious. Themes of belonging, nostalgia, and the nature of home intertwine in this deep short novella."  —Foreword Reviews

"The Western Lonesome Society is a thing of beauty, a house with many rooms, all built of humor and pathos. I don't know what to call it, comic novel or surreal novella, or a genre all its own, a literary tall tale."  —Barry Kitterman, author, The Baker's Boy

"If you tossed some Richard B­autigan, a little Charles Bukowski, maybe a dash of Walker Percy into a blender, you might get a cocktail like this."  —Vancouver Province

Author Biography

Robert Garner McBrearty teaches writing at the University of Colorado. His stories have been anthologized in the Pushcart Prize and widely published in leading literary journals, including Mississippi Review, The Missouri Review, Narrative Magazine, New England Review, North American Review, and Story Quarterly. He is the author of Episode and A Night at the Y. He lives in Louisville, Colorado.