The first novel (pub. originally in 1979) from Clark Blaise

 Like some of his most compelling short stories, Lunar Attractions draws on Clark's experience of growing up poor in the deep South (i.e. Florida swamplands)

 Tells a story much like Clark's life: sickly boy, son of a handsome, fast-talking, cheating & possibly corrupt salesman, and an educated woman of English-German background; a family that fit in nowhere, travelled ceaselessly, was always starting over

 Written in some of the most stunning prose you're likely to see, ever. No shred of a lie.

 Same talking points as Meagre Tarmac: Clark was the director of the Iowa Writers Workshop International Creative Writing Program throughout the 90s, he received an award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters, his last book was profiled by Margaret Atwood in the New York Review of Books and was nominated for two of Canada's biggest prizes, he's the president of the international society of the short story, he's married to American novelist Bharati Mukherjee