A Scholar of Pain

In his debut short fiction collection A Scholar of Pain Grant Jerkins remains--as the Washington Post put it--Determined to peer into the darkness and tell us exactly what he sees. Here the depth of that darkness is on evident oftentimes poetic display. We meet and come reluctantly to sympathize with: The office chair-sniffer who only wants to be loved a bottomed-out cough-syrup addict a terminally ill school bus driver who takes her young riders on a drunken suicide run and a cheated-on housewife who discovers her husbands other woman isnt a woman at all but a...No spoilers here. Just read it. Read all sixteen of these deviant diversions. Peer into the darkness. Praise for A SCHOLAR OF PAIN: A Scholar of Pain hits that literary sweet spot: Could be crime fiction might be southern gothic--or even horror. The stories are funny as hell too. And compassionate. In fact Jerkins voice is amongst the most compassionate Ive heard because he extends it to some hideous wretches in a way that underscores the humanity I share with them. I heartily recommend Grant Jerkins. --Jedidiah Ayers author of Peckerwood and Fierce Bitches Sophisticated. Elegant. Sleek and demolishing. --Ryan Sayles author of Subtle Art of Brutality and Warpath A joyous celebration of the darkness within us all. With A Scholar of Pain Grant Jerkins gives an unflinching look--with no anger or judgment--into the realities that surround us. Its one thing to write a convincing and compassionate love story but writing one that involves a sex doll well thats another thing completely. --DH Tuck author of Formica