These People Are Us

Once you start reading George Singleton's first book of smart, laugh-out-loud stories, a strange thing happens: You discover that the characters sound like people you know -- people who are trying hard to make sense of modern absurdities.

With a style all his own, Singleton shrewdly shapes a world built on seemingly everyday circumstances, a world that is both genuine and curious: how to find a black-market sonogram so your pregnant wife won't find out you accidentally taped over the original; how to help your father and everyone else in town fake being hit by a tornado to get emergency government funds; and why not look for your next wife at your local recycling center.