Last Known Position

One of 15 books in the series: Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction series available on this site.

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Description

Most of the nine stories in Last Known Position were written upon James Mathews’ return from combat deployment to the Middle East with the D.C. Air National Guard. Life under fire provided the author with both dramatic events and a heightened sense of observation, allowing him to suggest the stress of combat as the driving factor behind extreme yet believable characterization and action. Military experiences and settings cause certain human elements and truisms to emerge more profoundly and dramatically. These stories portray desperate characters driven to make desperate choices. Always on the edge of a dark and unpleasant reality, Mathews’ … continued below

Physical Description

x, 175 p. : col. ill.

Creation Information

Mathews, James November 15, 2008.

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This book is part of the collection entitled: University of North Texas Press and was provided by the UNT Press to the UNT Digital Library, a digital repository hosted by the UNT Libraries. It has been viewed 169 times. More information about this book can be viewed below.

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  • Mathews, James

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UNT Press

The University of North Texas Press was founded in 1987 and published its first book in 1989. Though it is the newest university press in North Texas, it has quickly become a leading press with the most titles in print (more than 300) and published (15 to 18 each year). The UNT Press is a fully accredited member of the Association of American University Presses. Its books are distributed and marketed nationally and internationally through the Texas A&M University Press Consortium.

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Description

Most of the nine stories in Last Known Position were written upon James Mathews’ return from combat deployment to the Middle East with the D.C. Air National Guard. Life under fire provided the author with both dramatic events and a heightened sense of observation, allowing him to suggest the stress of combat as the driving factor behind extreme yet believable characterization and action. Military experiences and settings cause certain human elements and truisms to emerge more profoundly and dramatically. These stories portray desperate characters driven to make desperate choices. Always on the edge of a dark and unpleasant reality, Mathews’ characters survive by embracing fantasy, humor, violence, and sometimes redemption. Each story bears its own brand of hopeless quirkiness. Four teenagers on an army base steal a grenade and are stalked by a parade horse. A drifter returns home to rob the grandparents who raised him. A national guardsman faces a homicidal superior officer in Iraq on the eve of war. An elderly man worries that his wife’s new house guests are unrepentant cannibals. Always tense, sometimes ridiculous, and never dull, Last Known Position brings the reader to places unknown before and unforgettable after.

Physical Description

x, 175 p. : col. ill.

Notes

2008 Winner, Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction.
Tom Franklin, judge

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  • ISBN: 978-1-57441-252-9
  • Library of Congress Control Number: 2008028290
  • OCLC: 227031455
  • Archival Resource Key: ark:/67531/metadc271414

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University of North Texas Press

Scholarly and general interest books published by UNT Press covering biography, history, culture, folklore, nature, cookery, arts, and more. Some items in this collection are restricted to use by the UNT community.

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Creation Date

  • November 15, 2008

Added to The UNT Digital Library

  • Jan. 23, 2014, 1:09 p.m.

Description Last Updated

  • April 1, 2021, 5:40 p.m.

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Mathews, James. Last Known Position, book, November 15, 2008; Denton, Texas. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc271414/: accessed March 19, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Press.

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