In this powerful and gritty first novel, Steve Yarborough takes us into the deep-South world of Ned Rose, who works nights checking the oxygen levels in fish farm ponds and does all the dirty work his boss requires.  Silently he shares the family home with his sister Daze, who is nearly blinded by bitterness and disdain.  Since his angry teenage years, Ned’s life has been marred by a violence that erupts loudly and quickly disappears, leaving him filled with secrets and regret.  When Ned and Daze realize that they have one last hope for deliverance, The Oxygen Man moves into the deepest veins of the heart. Yarbrough delves into human nature and how certain past experiences can haunt you, maybe, forever.

About Steve Yarbrough

Steve Yarbrough earned a B.A. and an M.A. at University of Mississippi and an MFA at the University of Arkansas. His stories have appeared in The Oxford American, The Hudson Review, and The Southern Review and in two collections, Family Men and Mississippi History. His third collection, Veneer was published by University of Missouri Press. He is a professor of English and creative writing at Cal State, Fresno.