Murmurs: Gathered Stories Vol. One by Caleb J. Ross

Murmurs: Gathered Stories Vol. One brings together nine previously published stories hand selected to best represent the darkness prevalent in much of Caleb J. Ross’ fiction. Deformities, parenthood, childhood, each treated with literary integrity, come together to map the visceral, gut-wrenching side of family life.

Ross’ obsession with the domestic grotesque is represented here in full, ranging from his very first published story (Petty Injuries) to his most recent (as of the publication of Murmurs) Click-Clack, a story that appears in Warmed and Bound: a Velvet Anthology. Packed within Murmurs is a story of a mother who hopes for a kidnapper to take her disabled child away (Legs Unwilling), a vampire origins story where sucking blood turns out to be less painful than a broken home (Born Again Michael), and even a story rooted in Ross’ real life wherein a group of young boys play a game that involves running in front of oncoming traffic at night (Car Dodging).

Ross’ work has been compared to that of Chuck Palahniuk, Darren Aronofsky, Kurt Vonnegut, Dave Eggers, and Sherman Alexie. The influence of each resonates in Murmurs: Gathered Stories Vol. One.

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Praise for Murmurs: Gathered Stories Vol. One

Click-Clack by Caleb J. Ross is attuned to these mortal rhythms, and makes them sing seamlessly in a narrative that is as much a ballad as it is lyrical prose. This vignette is a song masquerading as short story. It achieves this with a brilliance as flawless as any modern masterpiece of music…This deep understanding of the dynamic between father and son is just one aspect of Click-Clack’s beauty. Ross also infuses the work with flourishes of consonance, rhyming words in a subtle way that make the power of rhythm a real force for the reader…His rhythms run through it like tides. They rise and fade in the writing like the passing of trains. – Matthew C. Funk

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