In Eliot Parker’s engrossing Table for Two, human connection anchors the core. Through a collection of modern short stories, Parker deftly explores the nature of relationships: temporal and abiding.
Table For Two
A Collection of Short Stories
by Eliot Parker
Genre: Contemporary Fiction, Short Stories
Conversation is more than just words being spoken, interpreted, and acted upon by others. Conversation is also the ultimate human interest activity, bringing people into direct contact with people in all of their complexity and vulnerability. The main characters in Parker’s ten multi-genre stories set in the heart of Appalachia want to be heard; to have others listen to them-really listen-and understand their needs and concerns.
The characters in these stories do not always get listened to, and many of them find that the need for attention comes from aggression. A woman confronts her father about his dementia. Two fathers whose guilt and shame over the disappearances of their sons hide more sinister motives. A young boy frustrated with a ring appraisal learns a lesson about how people and things can be valued equally. Each of the characters in the collection is faced with a balance of talking and listening with a need for action, which often leads to manipulation and coercion.
The characters in these stories want to be heard; to have others listen to them-really listen-and understand their needs and concerns. However, when they do not get listened to, there is often an attempted persuasion by aggression. One character often finds himself/herself faced with another character who believes that conversation has no place in their lives.
The belief of the antagonists in these stories is that- who needs to talk when there is action that needs to be done? The antagonists believe that there is no need for conversation when the protagonist can be manipulated, coerced, or discredited by actions. Each story is a thrilling adventure with unexpected turns. Parker’s honest and provocative prose will captivate readers with its urgency.
Eliot Parker is the author of the thriller novel A FINAL CALL, which was named a “Best Indie Book to Discover in 2022” by Kirkus Magazine and was a finalist in thriller novel from the London Book Festival. His short story collection SNAPSHOTS, won the 2020 PenCraft Literary Award and the 2021 Feathered Quill Book Award for Short Story Anthology. His thriller novel, A KNIFE’S EDGE, was an Amazon #1 bestseller. Eliot has received the West Virginia Literary Merit Award for his works and has also been a finalist for the Southern Book Prize in Thriller Writing in 2016 for his novel FRAGILE BRILLIANCE.
He hosts the podcast program, “Now Appalachia” on the Authors on the Air Global Radio Network, which profiles authors, editors, and publishers in the Appalachian region. He also hosts a Youtube/Booktube program called “Page Break,” featuring book reviews, interviews with authors, and news about the publishing industry.
A graduate of the Bluegrass Writers Studio at Eastern Kentucky University with his M.F.A. in Creative Writing and a graduate of Murray State University with his Doctorate in English, Eliot teaches writing that the University of Mississippi. For more information, visit his website http://www.eliotparker.com
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