Somewhere between where men and women seek red-eyed revenge and rolls in the hay lay the characters in Leverage, from the farm roads of mid-60's Texas to contemporary suburban New Jersey. As each of them wander in the pursuit of happiness and peace of mind, the American dream is made lucid at a fever pitch where schlub is king and the sun shines on a dog's ass from dusk until dawn.
"At some early point in each of Leverage's seven stories, something clicks, and you're pulled into these small-scale worlds--young toughs looking for action in the streets of Camden; hillbilly drama at a toddler's birthday party; a widower's salvation that takes the form of a dog fight in 1960s Texas. Nelson's crafted tales are populated with characters with nothing to lose, looking to get theirs, often headed into ridiculous and tragic catastrophe. Nelson's tough and nervy prose brings forth characters often found in mugshots or trashy daytime talk shows; except each one is strung through with painful loss, each one with a sad human heart." --Dan Magers, author of Partyknife
"These stories, about working class anti-heroes and messy families, marry the realism of Raymond Carver with the dark humor of an Alexander Payne film. Read this book." --Leigh Stein, author of The Fallback Plan