THE BLEEDER

Broken hearts, shattered souls, abandoned ideals, and inescapable fates are just a few of the themes Tad Simons plumbs in The Bleeder, a collection of tragi-comic tales in the tradition of Robertson Davies, T.C. Boyle, and-when the mood is particularly dark and funny-Roald Dahl. A boy who falls in love with the school nurse but can t understand her shameful secret. A young couple whose relationship is suddenly redefined by a gruesome traffic accident. An office worker who finds himself trapped in a terrifying nightmare of 21st-century capitalism. Their spirits tested by a flawed and often pitiless world, none of these characters survives unscathed. Some don t survive at all. In these pages you ll also find several misfits, bullies, and charlatans whose solutions to life s problems are as misguided as they are hilarious. Simons has a knack for filtering the American experience through a clarifying lens of skepticism and compassion. Balancing tragedy and humor with a sly sense of satire, these wonderfully engrossing tales are not just short stories, they are armchair entertainment of the highest order._,