Esquire Ball, Stories from the Great Black Swamp

by Robinson, Lisa Slage

• ISBN13: 9781625571809
• ISBN10: 1625571801
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2026-02-10
• Publisher: Black Lawrence Press

Summary

With a nod to Borges, Kafka, and Daphne du Maurier, Esquire Ball, Stories from the Great Black Swamp is a Midwestern gothic collection of thirteen linked stories in which a young female attorney discovers what it takes to succeed.

In this debut collection, set primarily in 1980s Northwest Ohio, ambitious men marry frog wives; a mother-daughter duo trap souls in farmhouse windows; a teenager drowns in a sea of corn; an associate breaks into a client’s house to steal a token of remembrance; and a PhD candidate reveals the secrets of the universe while having a threesome with her boyfriend and a tree. Through the lens of magical feminism, and braiding in fairytales and mythology, Esquire Ball examines the gray side of ethics, the tyranny of ambition, and the collateral damage left in its wake.

Author Biography

Lisa Slage Robinson writes to explore invisible landscapes and magical feminism. Named a finalist for Midwest Review’s Great Midwest Fiction Contest, her work appears in Iron Horse Literary Review, Smokelong Quarterly, The Adroit Journal, PRISM, Atticus Review, Storm Cellar, Necessary Fiction, Lit Pub, Meat for Tea and elsewhere. A former litigator and corporate attorney, she practiced law in the United States and Canada. Lisa serves on the Board of Directors for Autumn House Press. Born and raised in Ohio, she lives in Pittsburgh with her husband and keeps the lights on for their daughters.

Table of Contents

Fruit of the Poisonous Tree Swimming Lessons Salad Days The Esquire Ball Confession Mack the Knife Devil’ s Hole Road Bird With Lavender Tongue That Superb Cadaver Breeding in Captivity/Heat Wave Circus Polka Parade of Horribles Legend