Schemers, Dreamers, Cheaters, Believers

35 wide-ranging stories written during the Covid-19 pandemic, from speculative pieces about turning back the clock, making your final dream last an eternity, exchanging your child for a new one, to stories about an octopus, a dog, a pig, a worm, a group of hyenas, and a murder of crows. The cheaters cheat at word games, steal Amazon boxes, and run shoe scams from China. Donald Trump is among the schemers, as he pushes for his face to be sculpted on Mt. Rushmore, cheats Bill Clinton at golf, and negotiates with Satan for his proper place in hell. The believers work at finding a cure for the virus, fight cancer, re-interpret The Wizard of Oz, take a chance on a mail-order bride, and create art that may never be seen. There's even a verbal cartoon at a psychiatrist's office featuring Popeye, Bart Simpson, Eric Cartman, Cinderella, and various Looney Tunes characters. These are R-rated stories for the whole family! Written by the writer Diane Keaton called "profoundly entertaining," J. P. Donleavy said is "quite marvelous," Joyce Carol Oates believes is "fundamentally moral," and Montel Williams "recommends to just about anybody." Writer's Digest has called Grobel "a legend." NPR's Elvis Mitchell has said "His work is so profound." His previous book of stories, The Narcissist, was critically acclaimed as a "Discovery," "Remarkable," and "Highly original."