{"product_id":"9781941614006","title":"Figures on a Beach","description":"Elm Books introduces the first work in its new Grit Lit line, stories that reflect the lived experiences of today in all their beauty, humor, pettiness, dirt and local detail.\u003cp\u003eWith $250 in his pocket and no employment prospects, John Jones flees the harsh Wyoming winter in his VW bus to search for a job and answers to life's questions. What he finds on that Texas beach is a bit of warmth and a variety of life from sand hill cranes to Maggie the dog. The beach also brings the companionship in a cast of characters who seem as adrift as he is--the Rainbow Family, Ben who yells at him, the ex-convict Mark, and Cathy, a woman he comes to care for. All of whom may or may not be real. In direct but leisurely prose, this semi-autobiographical novel explores a life on the margins of nature, society and sanity, giving us a vivid portrait of a life with schizophrenia.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Figures on a Beach is not a pretty novel, not tied up cleanly with one thread and folded in the end; it is, instead, a real, substantial, thoughtful, and intelligent novel, and one that bares the intersection of love and longing, health and illness, and the desire to belong to something that the heart cannot quite identify.\" -Lori Howe, Editor-in-Chief, Open Window Review \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eKirk VanDyke studied economics at Tulane University and the University of London, and has a PhD in biology and entomology from the University of Wyoming.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Elm Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47052013830384,"sku":"9781941614006","price":14.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781941614006_p0.jpg?v=1764113698","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781941614006","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}