Mark Doyon's Bonneville Stories is a very well-conceived and executed series of short stories connected by their subjects -- the people in and around the rural town of Bonneville, Virginia.
These are stories you can't put down, characters so real they could be your neighbor. Doyon has a way of making his quirky backwater protagonists into heroes and heroines -- you end up rooting for them to succeed despite thier often pathetic, frequently desperate natures.
To give an example of Doyon's ability to suck a reader into his world is very difficult. The stories are all so different in tone and mood. But in one of my favorites in the bunch, "Deliver Me," Ronnie the pizza delivery guy has his eyes opened the night he delivers an order to a farm house being used by a party of "city folk." Through the chance encounter, Ronnie is inspired to see the world outside his little corner -- a feat we could all do well to accomplish in our own lives.
Even if you've never had the unique opportunity of living in a small slice of Americana such as Bonneville, you will thoroughly enjoy the tales Doyon weaves in his collection.
Doyon is working on a second collection, Jagged Whimsy and Other Stories. You can check out his web site at www.markdoyon.com.
