{"product_id":"9780826209276","title":"Our Secret's Out: Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e\"I thought I'd learned what I was put here on earth to learn,\" says the narrator of \"Nothing Sad, Once You Look at It,\" \"but if I had, I'd have understood I could live to be ninety and someone would come down the pike and pull the rug out from under me.\"  In \u003ci\u003eOur Secret's Out\u003c\/i\u003e, Darrell Spencer will introduce you to a marvelous assortment of quirky characters as they face threats to their safety or sanity and endure life's outrageous surprises.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom Las Vegas casinos to the boomtowns of Utah and Nevada, these stories tell about lust, about living together, about the perils of everyday life.  A convenience store clerk confronts a deranged customer and a far more frightening girlfriend in \"Let Me Tell You What Ward DiPino Tells Me at Work.\"  In the fast-paced, powerful \"Union Business,\" union boss Dick Handy  teaches his son what women really want, and a son learns a profound lesson on his own:  even fathers lie.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA young golf whiz winds up working at Juvenile Hall after failing to con his wealthy Uncle Beaner into funding his preparation for the pro circuit in \"Song and Dance.\"  A man and his dog-both wearing jockey shorts-turn the tables on the trick-or-treaters in the hilarious \"Halloween.\"  A religious zealot's gift of eleven hundred dollars to a complete stranger reveals the perplexity of the world and an opportunity for personal renewal in \"The Glue That Binds Us.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlthough they live on the edge of loneliness-sometimes on the edge of terror-Spencer's characters barrel ahead, making the best of every situation.  With relentlessly keen observation and energetic storytelling, Spencer demonstrates the humor and never-ending richness of contemporary life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Missouri Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47021472678128,"sku":"9780826209276","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780826209276_p0.jpg?v=1763755498","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780826209276","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}