Miller, Mary
"Mary Miller seizes the mantle of southern literature with this wry tale of middle age and the unexpected turns a life can take. Like her predecessors Ann Beattie and Raymond Carver
Mary Miller brings an essential voice to her generation. Building on her critically acclaimed novel
The Last Days of California
and her biting collection
Always Happy Hour
Miller slyly transports readers to her unapologetic corner of the South--this time
Biloxi
Mississippi
home to sixty-three-year-old Louis McDonald Jr. His wife of thirty-seven years left him
his father has passed--and he has impulsively retired from his job in anticipation of an inheritance check that may not come. In the meantime
he watches reality television
sips beer
and avoids his ex-wife and daughter. One day
he stops at a house advertising free dogs and meets overweight mixed-breed Layla. Unexpectedly
Louis takes her
and
newly invigorated
begins investigating local dog parks and buying extra bologna. Mining the absurdities of life with her signature "droll minimalist's-eye view of America" (Joyce Carol Oates)
Mary Miller's Biloxi affirms her place in contemporary literature"--