Criers & Kibitzers, Kibitzers & Criers

“This imagination of Elkin’s sneaks up, tickles, surprises, shocks, and kills. It makes stories that are deadly funny.” — The New York Times Each of the nine short stories collected here feature two types of people—the troubled and the troublemakers. In “The Guest,” a homeless man gleefully takes credit for a robbery he did not commit. “In the Alley” tells the story of a terminally ill man who begrudgingly outlives his initial prognosis. And the satiric “I Look Out for Ed Wolfe” features a charismatic salesman auctioning off his life’s possessions in order to determine his value in the world. Laced with wit, Criers & Kibitzers, Kibitzers & Criers is a keenly observed collection that puts Elkin’s comic artistry on full display. This ebook features rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author’s estate and from the Stanley Elkin archives at Washington University in St. Louis.