Sudden Death, Over Time
Wordcraft of Oregon, 2012
“John Rember tears your heart out and replaces it with his own. No one I know of comes close to his mastery of the short story. Read him and weep.”
—Tim Sandlin, author of the “GroVont” quartet
Sudden Death, Over Time does what only good satire can—tear down the artificial and the irrelevant to get to what is human. The stories are funny, insightful, disturbing, sad, and always entertaining. They emerge from the uncertainty of our time, amid failing infrastructures, moral ambiguity, corruption, and the tenured disinterest of an academic system. Rember’s talent in bringing interesting characters to life and letting them stumble on their humanity in places at the same time common and extreme give these stories an energy that sparks on every page until they conflagrate into a controlled burn. Sudden Death, Over Time will appeal to readers with a dark sense of humor about higher education, relations between men and women, getting older, making meaning in a world hostile to meaning, or the Law of Unintended Consequences.
Reviews
Alyson Hagy, author of Ghosts of Wyoming and Scribe: A Novel
“I couldn’t get enough of the stories in Sudden Death, Over Time. John Rember’s wit is as sharp as the edge of a well-honed ski and his prose is as smooth and perfect as a Dean’s finest scotch. Reading these stories made me feel as though I’d come upon Richard Russo and Thomas McGuane swapping smart and wicked tales in front of a hot pub fire with cold drinks in hand. The book is that skillful, and that funny.”
Mike O’Mary, author of Wise Men and Other Stories
“John Rember is one of the most thoughtful and thought-provoking writers around. He also happens to be a very funny and slightly subversive writer, all of which adds up to a great read.”
Duff Brenna, from his Introduction
“Rember’s deft touches, the concrete language and careful craftsmanship he displays discloses a powerful writer at the summit of his game, a wordsmith who knows how to spin a yarn in such a winning way that those who read his stories are carried along with ineffable ease, perhaps seldom aware of the simple beauty of the style, the prose, its concision: never a word out of place, never a phrase without its distinctive, unfaltering Rember rhythm. Sudden Death, Over Time is consummate literature—a dazzling achievement.”
Cecil, on Amazon (5 stars)
“Any sharp edges [Rember] creates with the clarity of his writing are balanced by the humility of his humor. His stories clarify the world—render it palatable and laughable. After crying and laughing through stories about students and professors, spouses and lovers, sons and mothers, you’ll reach for his other books, as you’ll see that his writing lights the way through dark times. You’ll be able to go on feeling lighter: he does the heavy lifting for us and leaves readers feeling uplifted and feeling smarter.”
CyberCrone, on Amazon (5 stars)
“I’ll buy anything this guy publishes. I believe Rember to be one of the most insightful and original writers publishing today. He never fails to stimulate me.”