Shiny Things by Jacob Elliott

About the book

THOMAS FARLEY, Loving Husband and Father, believes he can't do justice to those titles. After the death of his alcoholic father, Tom resigns himself to the same fate. Exiling himself from his family, he wanders a path of failures that include the losses of his car, his job, and his favorite shoes. Soon Tom winds up in a transient hotel where he spends his drunken hours planning his demise. Just as he clamps his mouth around the barrel of his hunting rifle, a burst pipe in the apartment above him thwarts his suicide.

GLORIA WILLOUGHBY, a widow who has lived in the building for forty-seven years, occupies the charmingly cluttered apartment. Terminally ill, Gloria finds in Tom a chance to experience a family she never had. In return Tom finds in Gloria a distraction. He takes delight in this entertaining woman's bizarre world, a world built as a distraction from her own husband's suicide. Where Tom might have learned a lesson about how others would be affected by his death, he instead learns that life goes on in one fascinating way or another regardless of his existence. Tom is introduced to numerous colorful characters including a former junk dealer who now just collects shiny things, and BUDDY, a simple young man who follows Gloria everywhere unless it involves going inside... anywhere... ever. Inevitably, Gloria's cancer lands her in the hospital. In her last hour, the clever lady eases Tom's grief by insisting he give her a message to pass on to his deceased father. At Gloria's funeral, Tom's wife performs a miracle: she persuades Buddy to come inside the parlor to say goodbye. The man-child's triumph over his phobia propels the crowd of delightful misfits into a riotous celebration, a colorful tribute to the cathartic effect Gloria had on the lives she touched.

About the author

Born in San Diego, California, Jacob Elliott left home at the age of seventeen hoping to find peace with himself in such places as Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, and Sheridan, Wyoming. Eventually achieving a modicum of success in acting, Jacob discovered the creative side of show business and wrote a number of plays that he someday hopes to produce. Currently, Jacob lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with his wife and two sons and is diligently working on his next novel.