Kick in the Head: Stories Book

   In stories that are as diverting as they are disconcerting, Steven Rinehart plumbs the psyche of that most perplexing beast: the American male. Set against a stark Midwestern landscape dotted with trailers, guns, cars, and crashed, these are deftly crafted and oddly resonant portraits of men behaving badly and men who have it bad—usually at the same time.
   A Boy Scout struggles through a bizarre boys-to-men ritual.  A man starts a love affair with a diabetic who prefers booze to insulin.  Another man who's finally enjoying his first sex-only relationship destroys it by clinging to a white lie. From the high school teacher battling his attraction to a troubled student to the patron who becomes a conspirator in a violent outburst in a bar, these are guys who have a lot to learn and seem to insist on doing so the hard way.  Linked throughout the collection in surprising ways, Rinehart's stories ultimately form a cohesive work that introduces his as a writer of striking vision and offers a sharp-focus snapshot of men who need a kick in the head—and get it when they least expect it.  

Library Journal

In Rinehart's engaging debut collection of short stories, men seek to make connections with women, often without welcome and rarely with much introspection or insight. But the stories ring true because the characters and situations seem real. Many of them feature the hapless Chris Bergman, who appears variously as a high school teacher, an insurance agent, and an unemployed slacker. Several of Rinehart's characters seem to drift through life without goals or direction; some have even darker sides. Two stories about adolescents, "The Order of the Arrow" and "Another Pyramid Scheme," are especially poignant, and the latter, the lone tale in the collection with a female narrator, is heartbreaking. Recommended for public and academic libraries.--Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Univ. of Idaho Lib., Moscow Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.