From prizewinning short story writer James Whorton, Jr.,
Approximately Heaven
is a marvelously rambunctious debut novel about one hapless man's pursuit of happiness — or at least another six-pack. Preferably both.
Don "Wendell" Brush is an unemployed 32-year-old Tennessee electrician who likes a few beers before lunch. Mary, his long-suffering wife, has decided to leave him, but Don, heartsick at the thought, beats her out the door. He reasons that if he leaves, Mary will have to stay behind in their ramshackle house to take care of their dog and cat. At least he'll know where she is. Out on the street with nothing to do until he can think of a way to win another chance with Mary, Don decides to take a road trip with his friend Dove Ellender, a retired, chain-drinking ex-felon with emphysema who is driving to Mississippi to deliver some furniture. If there's something else in the trailer, Don isn't asking and Dove's not telling.