The Galaxie and Other Rides

Winner of the Tartts First Fiction Award! Set primarily in post-industrial Detroit, The Galaxie and Other Rides explores the fight for survival in the heartland: a young Marine is attacked by men from his own unit, the daughter of a prostitute struggles to find her sexual identity, and a man plots his own death—half suicide, half protest—by fire when he loses his job at General Motors. A classic car appears in each story, a reminder of the decline of the automobile industry upon which many of the characters have built their lives. While few choices remain in the wake of their losses, they maintain a porchlight-left-on love for each other that defies the odds. Indeed, love is their salvation amid the ruins