"Poignant and wise, sympathetic to the everyday struggles these characters face." --Carmela Ciuraru, The Los Angeles Times.

Here is a story collection about love, death, humor, and the glue called family. In one narrative, a man wakes up one morning to find the odor of dead fish won't go away, but no one else can smell it. In another, a couple's visit with friends to watch the Academy Awards has the protagonist envying his friends' lawn and lifestyle. In these and eleven other stories, Christopher Meeks balances tragedy and wit. As novelist David Scott Milton explains, "In this collection, Christopher Meeks examines the small heartbreaks of quiet despair that are so much a part of all our lives. He does it in language that is resonant, poetic, and precise.... If you like Raymond Carver, you'll love Meeks. He may be as good--or better."

"So stunning...that I could not help but move on to the next story." --Entertainment Weekly

"The Middle-Aged Man and the Sea is highly recommended, highly entertaining, and highly rewarding reading." --The Midwest Book Review

"If the publishing and reading wrold is fair and just, Christopher Meeks is destined to be widely read and deservedly honored." --Carolyn Howard Johnson, MyShelf.com

"No matter how difficult or heavy the burden depicted, these stories end on a note of resilience... Deeply authentic." -- Los Angeles Times, January 2, 2006