“Timothy Gager brings his uniquely comic and inventive intelligence to this endearing story about a handful of ne’er do wells, misfits, and wounded souls with names like Dye-haired Bob and Kayak Kenny, all of whom are trapped in an unrelenting eddy of work, overdue bills, and misconstrued love at Grand Slams restaurant in Massachusetts. At the center is Sugar, a beautiful, smart young woman who has tried, unsuccessfully, to dull the pain of living with sexual escapism and excessive cocaine use. Even as you are laughing out loud, there’s a deeper wisdom that infuses even the most unsavory characters in this tale told in brisk vignettes. Gager’s memorable novel blends sardonic humor with compassion.”
~ Jessica Keener, Night Swim
“In Grand Slams, Timothy Gager shares the touching stories of characters who so often set are aside as window dressing in other novels. Here, Gager gives them the full spotlight: waitress, line order cook, knock around guy, each patron comes alive as fully rounded, damaged, loving people. Like Sherwood Anderson's Winesburg, Ohio, Gager's book offers us both myth and realism, hand in hand.”
~ Daniel Nester, Shader and How to Be Inappropriate
