For immediate release
Elizabeth Odom
elizabeth.odom@ung.edu
- The Hammerhead Chronicles explores the effects of grief, racism, homophobia, revenge, love, and loss on an oddball cast of contemporary characters in a small, fictitious South Carolina town . . . oh, and it’s funny.
- For fans of Southern literary fiction and dark humor
- Features a large, diverse ensemble cast with eight points of view
Dahlonega, GA—Aug 3, 2022—The University of North Georgia (UNG) Press is pleased to announce The Hammerhead Chronicles, a new fiction title from critically acclaimed Southern storyteller Scott Gould, available November 15, 2022.
On the day Claude slaps down a credit card for an expensive racing bicycle, his soon-to-be-ex-wife passes away. As Claude begins a quest to pedal away from his marriage and his grief, we encounter the Southern eccentrics that orbit his world: his overly independent, rebellious teenage daughter; his foul-mouthed sister-in-law who deftly stalks her husband’s mistress; twin, gay bookstore owners who serve the profitable underground Confederacy market out of their “special” back room; the math professor possessing an attic full of rats and a penchant for revenge; a skinny bartender—named for a Marine base—who preaches a suck-it-up philosophy; and Claude’s recently deceased wife, observing it all from the Great Beyond, where she is annoyed by the lack of decent weather and by the troubled, tangled lives she left behind.
This ensemble of quirky, narrative voices dovetail for a fast-moving, comic story of longing and redemption, while flipping a number of Southern clichés on their ears.
The Hammerhead Chronicles (978-1-940771-77-9) is a 6 inch by 9 inch perfect-bound paperback. Wholesalers can purchase copies from Ingram; individuals can purchase copies from their favorite independent bookstore and other major retailers.
Scott Gould was born, raised, and still lives in South Carolina. The Hammerhead Chronicles is his fourth book. He is a two-time winner of the S.C. Arts Commission’s Individual Artist Fellowship in Prose and the S.C. Academy of Authors Fiction Fellowship. Other honors include the 2022 Memoir Prize for Books, an Independent Press Award, an IPPY Award for Southern fiction and the Larry Brown Short Story Award. Gould teaches creative writing at the S.C. Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities. He is always pulling for the Braves.
The UNG Press is a scholarly, peer-reviewed press that serves as an extension of our sponsoring university, the University of North Georgia. Our primary function is to promote education and research with a special emphasis on innovative scholarship and pedagogy. Through our partnership with Affordable Learning Georgia and eCore, the UNG Press is the leading press in Georgia for producing Open Educational Resources and Open Textbooks. ###
