Reruns: StoriesPatrick Irelan
Price $16.95, trade paperback
150 pages, Isbn 9781888160406
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These stories will take you places you can’t ignore. Welcome to
a world of office anarchy, self-improvement fraud, and space aliens who live in silos. Observe an urban scene so ugly that it drives people into group therapy. Enroll in a correspondence course taught by a man who knows nothing
about the subject matter. Sit in on a meeting of the Burning Desire
Romance Writers. Apply for a job at the Ray of Hope Greeting Card Company. Join us now as we enter a cultural dreamland in which every day is just another televised rerun.
Patrick Irelan is the author of two memoir collections, Central Standard (Univ of Iowa, 2002) and A Firefly In The Night (ICP, 2006) both set in the heart of the Midwest. Known for vividly capturing the remarkable potential of living in Iowa, Irelan repeatedly shows us that “normal” is much more than “normal.” This collection of short stories combines both his understanding of living in the Midwest with his wry sense of humor.
Ice Cube Book author at James Hearst Center
Last modified on 2010-04-28 19:21:01 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Ice Cube Books author, Patrick Irelan, is reading from his work, Reruns, at the James Hearst Center for the Arts in Cedar Falls, Iowa, April 29th at 8pm as part of the Final Thursdays Reading Series. Check out this link to find out more about this event and the collection of short stories.
Patrick Irelan Spring Tour for Reruns
Last modified on 2010-04-28 19:23:22 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Patrick Irelan Spring Tour for Reruns
Iowa fiction writer and memoirist Patrick Irelan will be touring the Midwest to promote his collection of short stories, Reruns.
Come one, come all to hear these entertaining stories!
April 29th, 8 pm, Final Thursday Reading at University of Northern Iowa, Hearst Center for the Arts
May 15th, Main Street Books, St. Charles (St Louis Metro area),
May 27th, Boswell Books, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
June 19th, The Next Chapter, Knoxville, Iowa
June 26th, Beaverdale Books, Des Moines, Iowa, 2 pm
Dr. Science says, “Often hilarious, always amusing …”
Last modified on 2009-11-20 22:19:09 GMT. 0 comments. Top.
Writer Patrick Irelan to read at Prairie Lights
Author Patrick Irelan knows his limitations.
The 66-year-old UI graduate grew up in small town Iowa on a “worthless 80-acre farm” in Davis County. On the farm, Irelan learned not every venture in life leads to success.
“On that little farm — which was in pretty bad shape when my parents bought it — I learned the limits of what people can do,” he said. “[The farm] was a colossal disaster for my parents. So I’ve always been ambitious, but far less than the typical American citizen would be … I’ve written a lot, and a lot of that hasn’t been successful, and I haven’t let that bother me.”
Irelan will read from his first collection of short stories, Reruns, at Prairie Lights Books, 15 S. Dubuque St., at 7 p.m. today. The book is a humorous collection of short stories that explore American culture and the Midwest way of life.
“On one level, the stories [Patrick] writes are just entertaining stories, but also there’s a kind of underlying seriousness about them, and they have sort of a satirical quality,” UI graduate and poet Dan Lechay said.
Irelan uses interesting and exaggerated ideas in Reruns with stories ranging from space-themed “Comets” and “Dark Matter” to pieces that take jabs at pop culture. The author said he often puts his characters into situations that couldn’t exist in the real world to convey his messages.
The stories featured in Reruns come from decades of writing that, Irelan said, began in his undergraduate years at the UI, where he received a B.A. in political science and later an M.A. in American studies.
“It dawned on me when I was in college that I might be able to write a book, a story, whatever,” he said.
Irelan briefly attended the Writers’ Workshop for poetry but left after a year to write prose and work in the UI’s continuing-education program. He eventually published two memoirs, Central Standard: A Time, a Place, a Family and A Firefly in the Night: A Son of the Middle West.
The writer said he is in the process of creating two new stories at his home in Coralville and hopes to get another book published in the near future.
“Depending on how long I live, there will be more,” Irelan said with a laugh.