Rag Pickers

Blaine Newton

• Publisher: University of Calgary Press
• Edition: 0
• Year: 2025
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Literature General
• eBook ISBN:
  9781773856216
• Index: Literature

A sinister note sewn in the lining of a vintage jacket from a second-hand store compels a young woman to make changes in her life. A brother discovers his dying twin has been burying jars of coins in an attempt to create mystery in a neighbourhood. On his 43rd birthday, a man realizes that the critical events of his life occur in years when his age is a prime number. A woman reconfigures her stick figure on the back window of the family minivan in an act of defiance and reinvention.

Rag Pickers is a collection of eighteen short stories that challenge the essential loneliness of the human condition. Blaine Newton writes with wry humour, deep observation, and an off-kilter perspective, bringing his skill as a playwright to crackling dialogue and polished prose. Well-crafted, heartbreaking, and really, really funny, this is a book for anyone who has ever felt alone.

Table of contents

• Half Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• A Life Indivisible
• The Tea Ritual
• On The Street Where You Live
• The Ascent of Hank
• Rag Pickers
• Last Words
• Conversations with Cows
• Coffee Break
• Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One
• Life in a Bottle
• Pennies in a Jar
• Chance Encounter
• The Reluctant Poet
• Stick People
• Downsizing
• One on One
• A Fall’s Reflection
• A Limited Run
• Acknowledgements
• Author Bio
• Brave and Brilliant Series