Exile in Goyville: A Collection of Stories

by Troy Markham

In the summer of 2004, our son died, but that is not the whole story. Twenty years earlier, we’d moved here, to a quiet, tree-lined urban area tucked inside a metropolis. I’d realized every redneck boy’s dream of graduating college, moving to the big city, meeting a nice Jewish girl, and getting her pregnant.So this is where we started. Along the way, I left a trail of reckless snowmobiles, neglected horses, wild cockatiels, and a suspicious number of incidents that involved fire. When it came time to raise children, I hoped to find a nice place. A place with good schools and a cohesive community. I hoped to spare myself the challenges dealing with snowmobiles, horses, cockatiels, and fire. Especially the fire.Instead we were handed the type of challenges that every parent fears. These challenges were accompanied by the mundane events that must be navigated as an every day part of urban coughing in the night, decapitated squirrels, haunted staircases, robotic lawnmowers, and the search for a piece of birthday cake.My son’s death is a part of all that. The biggest part. But not the only part. In the aftermath, I’ve tried to put together the parts to make as much of a complete story as I can. So here is the whole story. And the rest of the stories.

156 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 4, 2016

Reviews

[Stephanie Dargusch Borders · Rating 4 out of 5]

Half baked. Markham is a great story teller but some of the stories felt like they could use some work. I especially loved the stories about the cockatiel and the robot vacuum, which to me were the funniest of the collection. Any humor in the book is tempered by the tragic death of Markham’s infant son, so you get the full spectrum of emotions with this collection. His son’s story is one of the saddest I’ve ever read.

[Joan Tewanger · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refreshing

After reading so many self-serving autobiographies or tell all's on famous people, what a joy to read something engrossing, amusing and moving from a talented "regular" person. Sounds trite to say (but it's true) I laughed and cried reading these wonderful stories.
The stories were interesting and you felt the honesty in each one.
Bravo Troy Markham.....more please.

[Kelly Salmon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved how Troy told the stories. I laughed a lot and cried too. I felt like I was right there with him. This is a very approachable book. Love it.