Winner of Chicago Writers Association Book of the Year Winner of the 2012 Devil's Kitchen Prose Readers Award Finalist of Society of Midland Authors Award for Adult Fiction Linking the lives and tales of a place and its people through tragedy and consequence, blind faith and redemption, this collection of finely tuned short stories spans three decades to present a portrait of working class Americans. From babysitter and bus ticket salesman to construction worker and cult leader, the residents of New Hope--whose lives intersect after a tragic accident during a summer carnival--chase dreams and suffer disappointment against the subtle backdrop of a Midwestern landscape. The stories are unapologetic yet magical, bringing to life the daily struggle under the weight of war, natural disaster, illness, grief, and greed, even as the residents enjoy the comforts of solace, friendship, sex, love, ice cream, and the comics found wrapped around bubblegum.

The Temple of Air: Stories

Literature & Fiction

McNair, Patricia Ann

Literary

Elephant Rock Books

Literary Nonfiction. Women's Studies. "These are the moments I want to tell, to write, the ones that leave me a little raw, that hold love and memory and pain and suffering and survival."—Patricia Ann McNair, from "We Are All Just Stupid People" Dancing to the jukebox in dark taverns; saying goodbye to her father on the last morning of his life; having sex in the backseat of a car at a drive-in movie; drinking scotch in a nightclub in Havana, Cuba, and coffee in Paris; making up stories on the run; flirting with boys on summer nights on a Chicago beach; finding the perfect sentence; gathering the entirety of her recently deceased brother's things in two plastic garbage bags—these are just a few of the raw and loving moments that Patricia Ann McNair shares in her essays and riffs. This is how things become true, she tells us in a piece about her father s FBI file... with each retelling... AND THESE ARE THE GOOD TIMES are the stories McNair tells and retells. At turns funny and heartbreaking, these brief pieces are full of truth and not just her own, but ours as well. "Short story writer McNair (The Temple of Air, 2011) proves to be an irresistible personal essayist of refreshing candor, vibrant openheartedness, rueful humor, and unassuming wisdom. In the title piece, which opens this companionable, down-to-earth collection, young McNair joins her beloved father at Sullivan's, his favorite tavern, bugging him for coins for the jukebox and dancing happily by herself. Enthralled by music, hubbub, and motion, McNair remains adventurous and omnivorously curious. Swinging backward and forward in time, she vividly chronicles such indelible experiences as spending her seventeenth summer as a volunteer at a dental clinic in Honduras, how she set about losing her virginity after her father died when she was 15, her bartender days, a fling in Cuba, and marriage. McNair frankly addresses sexuality and sexual abuse, the last two presidential elections, and the lives and deaths of loved ones. Throughout these vital, confiding, potent, and superbly well-crafted essays, McNair also muses on her path to becoming a writer and a writing teacher, generously sharing insights into the creative process and 'the yearning toward wonder.'"—Donna Seaman, Booklist

AND THESE ARE THE GOOD TIMES: A Chicago gal riffs on death, sex, life, dancing, writing, wonder, loneliness, place, family, faith, coffee, and the FBI (among other things)

History & Criticism

Side Street Press

In Responsible Adults, farms fail, families break apart, and work is hard to come by. The characters in Patricia Ann McNair's fictional Midwestern towns are fueled by grief and hope, loss and desire. A stepfather attacks a neighbor boy for exposing a shameful secret to his stepdaughter. A pregnant, undocumented young woman brings new life to a failing church. A mother uses her reluctant adolescent daughter as a model for her art photography. What happens when responsible adults are anything but responsible people? When they are at best, irresponsible, and at worst, dangerous?

Responsible Adults

Cornerstone Press

Linking the lives and tales of a place and its people through tragedy and consequence, blind faith and redemption, The Temple of Air, Patricia Ann McNair's award-winning collection of finely tuned short stories, spans three decades to present a portrait of working class Americans. From babysitter and bus ticket salesman to construction worker and cult leader, the residents of New Hope--whose lives intersect after a tragic accident during a summer carnival--chase dreams and suffer disappointment against the subtle backdrop of a Midwestern landscape. The stories are unapologetic yet magical, bringing to life the daily struggle under the weight of war, poverty, natural disaster, illness, grief, and greed, even as the residents enjoy the comforts of solace, friendship, sex, love, ice cream, and the comics found wrapped around bubblegum. This revised second edition features new stories that will delight both new and old readers, as well as a new introduction.

The Temple of Air

Tortoise Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McNair, Patricia Ann. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by McNair, Patricia Ann

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by McNair, Patricia Ann. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Temple of Air: Stories

AND THESE ARE THE GOOD TIMES: A Chicago gal riffs on death, sex, life, dancing, writing, wonder, loneliness, place, family, faith, coffee, and the FBI (among other things)

Responsible Adults

The Temple of Air