From the publisher: In these bold stories set in the mountains and small towns of the South, men and women looking for escape from dull routines and a culture of hype (whether of consumerism, sex, or religion) are led to places of danger and self-reckoning. A dentist on a tryst is seduced by and impregnates an impetuous ghost. A beleaguered young writing professor follows his imagination one step too far while escorting a famous writer he finds darkly alluring. Provoked by a radio talk show, a woman tests who is more intimate, her husband or her dog. In the novella-length title story, a young McDonald’s cashier sets off alone on a harrowing, surreal journey after her domineering boyfriend commits a murder in her name—a journey from nowhere and nothing to an epiphany in Gatlinburg, at the edge of the Smoky Mountains wilderness. Gateway to Paradise surpasses the promise of Vollmer’s first collection, Future Missionaries of America, acclaimed as “irresistible . . . . utterly convincing . . . . the arrival of a strong new voice” (New York Times Book Review); “a rare and gratifying achievement” (Library Journal, starred).

Published version