The Rope Swing: Stories

"Jonathan Corcoran's Appalachian voice, so fierce, so tender, portrays tradition as both weapon and soothing balm. The Rope Swing takes us inside quiet revolutions of the soul in mountain towns far from Stonewall: we can never go home again, but we recognize ourselves in these linked stories of love, loss, the economic tyranny of neglect and exploitation, and the lifelong alliance between those who stay and those who leave. The Rope Swing establishes a new American writer whose unerring instincts are cause for celebration."
--Jayne Anne Phillips, author of Quiet Dell, Lark and Termite, and Black Tickets

"A powerful, moving, and beautifully-written book. Corcoran writes both queer and straight characters with insight and empathy. He is an observant writer who understands people's pain, regrets, heartache, and hope. This much needed, important book explores rural America and queer identity, two subjects rarely portrayed together."
--Carter Sickels, author of The Evening Hour

"The Rope Swing is an astute, stereotype-busting triumph that shines a light on gay Appalachia. Corcoran unflinchingly exposes hard truths about a complicated region and its people who grapple with identity in more ways than one."
--Marie Manilla, author of Still Life with Plums and The Patron Saint of Ugly