Justin Kirk Engard

Trying Anyway Justin Kirk Engard

Trying Anyway is a collection of short stories. Some are humorous. Some are haunting. Some are impressionistic and a little obtuse.

Read these stories. They're about the Philadelphia area. I don't think there is enough literary representation of our Delaware Valley. Our strifes and philosophies are relevant. Not everything worth writing down happens in New York City. But these stories don't all happen in Philadelphia. They happen in the wilderness and in the dark. They happen in the quiet spaces where you just want to be alone. They're still happening-right now. Open this book, and they could be happening to you.

These are stories about monsters chasing and people falling down. Everyone's always crying and hurting each other. I'm troubled by them. I've collected them for you. I'm publishing them for you. These weird and wiry tales are unbefitting a standard press. They are lopsided and crude. Worrying. They go too far. They leave without saying goodbye. If you are from Philadelphia, you will recognize the agony within. The temperature of this book is unbearable. The smell is choking. There is garbage everywhere. Philadelphia is built on a dank swamp that freezes in the winter. The days and nights are loud with illegal construction. The police are corrupt. The crooks are contemptuous. This city is a disappointment to its parents and a shameful catastrophe to behold. We are covered in filth and suffer from mental decay.

Profit made from this book's sales go directly toward feeding and sheltering a person with clinical mental illness.