Gregory D. Williams

A beautiful collection of short stories based on the author's childhood in Arizona. Williams reminds me how different life was for me around 10-14 years old compared to most kids today - mostly free to roam the neighborhood during the day when not in school. He also reminds me how conversation with my buds suddenly began to focus on speculation about girls!
These stories are captivating, well conceived, skillfully written, and are taking their place among the best stories in my library.
-Os… (mer)

This is a collection of short stories that will resonate with you long after you've finished reading. Gregory Williams' collection is a chronology of life and its challenges. Selected short stories are included for childhood, early/mid-adulthood, and late adulthood. I loved seeing how the collection wrapped up with death and the afterlife in "Rainbow Trout." Based on the title and description, I was expecting more references to Arizona (and Phoenix) to be interwoven into the book. As someone living in Phoenix, that was a slight disappointment to me. However, I highly enjoyed the book. Thank you to LibraryThing and Grand Canyon Press for my copy of the book.… (mer)

You don't have to have grown up playing baseball or be a physician to love this collection. It's great to sit down with if you only have a little time on your lunch hour, or you could read the whole thing in a lazy Sunday afternoon. I especially enjoyed the two stories of youth, one reminiscent of 'The Wonder Years' and the other with a darker vibe. The triumphs, travails (and temptations) of doctors dominate the middle group of stories, while the concluding stories focus on old age, loss and closure. My least favorite story, 'The Rainbow Trout,' may well be most people's favorite. By refraining from telling us what to think or feel, and instead showing us what the characters think, feel, and do, Williams allows us to enter into their moral world and reflect upon our own.… (mer)