PositiveThe Southern Review of BooksWorking It Off in Labor County chronicles seventeen tales of wayward thinking and derring-do as varied as Uncle Archie’s \'collection of preserved body parts of antiquity.\' Tales that cast a light on how folks seek solace in a chunk of flyover country that’s in the doldrums and awash with \'the many who keep trying to go home, and the too few who know when they’ve arrived\' ... Thacker doesn’t sugarcoat the impoverished reality that casts a pall over Labor Countians, imbuing them with an easy-and-sleazy-buck mentality that makes them hope for outcomes as rich as the creativity in their doings ... Tender in its depiction of rural American ennui and mordant in its portrayal of colorful go-getters in a patch of coal country, Working It Off in Labor County is as much a collection of droll stories as it is a tale of two realities — the one that folks live in and the other that they dream about and wish to realize against all odds ...
Ed Tarkington
RaveThe Southern Review of BooksEd Tarkington\'s new coming-of-age novel The Fortunate Ones points out the chinks in the gilded armor adorning – and weighing down – followers of the cult of wealth ... The Fortunate Ones can feel like it’s reflecting elite society’s breakneck pace — making characters, events, and settings blur together ... Unvarnished in its look at a society that pours as much pressure onto people as it does spectacle and riches, The Fortunate Ones is a moving exposé — in the same vein as The Great Gatsby and Great Expectations — of how gilded appearances can siphon the luster from one’s innermost self and pressure individuals into keeping up with the breakneck cycle of monetary gain — and spiritual loss.
