ASIDES

"George Singleton is a very funny man. He could write about a tootsie roll and keep me reading," says Abigail Thomas, author of Safekeeping and A Three Dog Life, about Singleton's new collection of personal essays.

Readers of his celebrated short story collections (The Half-Mammals of Dixie, You Want More, and The Curious Lives of Non-Profit Martyrs, among others) know just what a master storyteller Singleton can be. Yet in this collection of essays, readers will discover Singleton's best kept secret: he also has a keen eye for the well-told and hilarious truth.

His subjects range widely: dogs, food, restaurants, jobs, music, family, and the benefits and challenges of, as he puts it, "a questionable upbringing."

¿Frequently published in magazines like Oxford American and Garden and Gun, Singleton explains in these essays how he came to be a writer (he blames barbecue), why he still writes his first draft by hand (someone stole his typewriter), and why he ran marathons (his father gave him beer.) He also will tell you why Aristotle would have been a failed philosopher had he grown up in South Carolina, how Laugh-In's Henry Gibson is to blame for his education in literature, and what was in the most delicious soup he has ever eaten.

Readers are invited to join George Singleton as he gets his dogs to promise they won't use his new garden as a Porta-Potty, learns about his not so famous relations, and generally charms anyone sensible enough to read this delightful book.