{"product_id":"last-call","title":"Last Call","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e K. L. Cook’s debut collection of linked stories spans three generations in the life of one West Texas family. Events both tender and tragic lead to a strange and lovely vision of a world stitched together in tenuous ways as the characters struggle to make sense of their lives amid the shifting boundaries of marriage, family, class, and culture. \u003cp\u003e A series of unusual incidents—a daughter’s elopement, a sobering holiday trip, a vicious attack by the family dog, a lightning strike—provokes a mother of five to abandon her children. An oil rigger, inspired by sun-induced hallucinations, rescues his estranged wife, who doesn’t appreciate his chivalry. In the wake of his father’s and brother’s deaths, a teenage boy finds a precarious solace working with his mother at a country-western bar. A cosmetics salesman schemes to buy Costa Rica and flirts dangerously with mobsters in Las Vegas. A woman fleeing her fourth marriage arrives at a complicated understanding of love and responsibility. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e Railroad worker and conman, grieving son and battered wife—these characters explore the limits of family fragility and resilience. Their stories—suggesting unlikely connections between comedy and pathos, cruelty and generosity—promise a hard-won dignity and hope. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"K. L. Cook","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53615771517308,"sku":"9780803215405","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0251\/4980\/0541\/files\/9780803215405.jpg?v=1726576428","url":"https:\/\/combined-academic.myshopify.com\/products\/last-call","provider":"Combined Academic Publishers - Mare Nostrum Group","version":"1.0","type":"link"}