Biloxi, Mary Miller
Biloxi, Mary Miller
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Biloxi
A Novel

Author: Mary Miller

Narrator: Danny Campbell

Unabridged: 7 hr 43 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 05/21/2019


Synopsis

Mary Miller seizes the mantle of Southern literature with this wry tale of middle age and the unexpected turns a life can take.

Like her predecessors Ann Beattie and Raymond Carver, Mary Miller brings an essential voice to her generation. Building on her critically acclaimed novel The Last Days of California and her biting collection Always Happy Hour, Miller slyly transports listeners to her unapologetic corner of the South—this time, Biloxi, Mississippi, home to sixty-three-year-old Louis McDonald, Jr. His wife of thirty-seven years left him, his father has passed—and he has impulsively retired from his job in anticipation of an inheritance check that may not come. In the meantime, he watches reality television, sips beer, and avoids his ex-wife and daughter. One day, he stops at a house advertising free dogs and meets overweight mixed-breed Layla. Unexpectedly, Louis takes her, and, newly invigorated, begins investigating local dog parks and buying extra bologna. Mining the absurdities of life with her signature "droll minimalist's-eye view of America" (Joyce Carol Oates), Biloxi affirms Miller's place in contemporary literature.

About Mary Miller

Mary Miller is the author of The Last Days of California and the short story collections Big World and Always Happy Hour. She is a former James A. Michener Fellow in Fiction and John and Renee Grisham Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi. She lives in Oxford, Mississippi.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Vanessa on July 05, 2019

4.5 stars. I have a thing for grumpy protagonists, I was pleasantly surprised by my like for Louis, even though he’s a negative character and lives a pretty ordinary and depressing life, but the laughs were big in this book. I think I got a chuckle at almost every page, and that’s pretty much a big......more

Goodreads review by Janet on November 14, 2021

This gentle, humorous Southern novel from short story writer Mary Miller (Always Happy Hour), had me from the first scene, where her protagonist, Louis McDonald, takes a new route to the Walgreens and stops at a house with a FREE DOGS sign in front. He knows it's odd, there's something odd about the......more

Goodreads review by Jonathan on December 17, 2020

Often we read a book summary and decide to read it. Such was the case with this story which failed to hold my interest on many planes. The central character is dull beyond measure while the narrative lacks substance. Rather than belabor the obvious, I decided against reading more. End of story.......more

Goodreads review by Juliet on April 16, 2019

I laughed a lot at this book. Mary Miller as a 63-year-old divorced man is hilarious, sharp, and feels true to life. It's also deceptively heart-warming, in a way that I found both surprising and gratifying. This was a quick, smart, nuanced and all together very enjoyable read.......more