The Patron Saint of Birds

"What if every 'Florida Man' news story showed a complex, flesh-and-blood human? That's what you get from Steve Lambert. The characters in The Patron Saint of Birds are by turns fierce and heartbreaking, and always captivating. Grab a beer from the cooler and wait out a hurricane among the trailer parks and orange groves of Sahwoklee County."-Katie Burgess, editor of Emrys Journal and author of Wind on the Moon"With his first book of fiction, The Patron Saint of Birds, Lambert proves himself worthy of a great American distinction: He is a true Southern Writer, and in all the best ways. Like Harry Crews and Flannery O'Connor before him, Lambert writes the working class with equal parts esteem, robust hilarity, and tempered rebuke. There can only be one explanation for the beauty and authenticity in these pages-Lambert has lived many a tired life. He knows the back roads better than he knows even the enduring tales of his Southern Gothic ancestors. This is a work of outstanding fiction, yes, but it is a true book in all the ways that matter."-Matt Phillips, author of Know Me from Smoke and Countdown"Steve Lambert has the best set of instincts I've seen from a writer in a long, long time. The stories in The Patron Saint of Birds move as naturally as Greek myth. Never before have I seen so clearly into the hearts of characters while also sensing the power and movement of revelation. This book should be anticipated, relished, and remembered."-Sheldon Lee Compton, author of Dysphoria