Mistakes by the Lake by Brian Petkash

Mistakes by the Lake by Brian Petkash

Set in Cleveland, Ohio, from its earliest beginnings as a forested frontier to the urban blight of modern times, Mistakes by the Lake is a collection of ten thematically linked stories spanning the many faces of the city’s history: *a motorman navigates his 1920’s back-and-forth trolley until he snaps; *a stockyards knocker encounters the Virgin Mary during the 1954 World Series; *a wannabe wrestles his unruly mind along the flammable 1960’s Cuyahoga River; *in a reinvention of Henry IV, a young man must either stick with his bumbling criminal crew or uncover legit ways to support his mother and transgender Gramps.

“Brian Petkash is the Bard of Cleveland. He’s a perceptive teller of poignant tales that are both regional and universal. That’s a compelling combination.” —Tony Macklin, film critic and author of Palestra