Sean Ennis is a Philadelphia, PA native, now living in Water Valley, MS. He teaches writing and literature at the University of Mississippi and with the Gotham Writers Workshop. His work has appeared in Tin House, Crazyhorse, The Good Men Project, The Greensboro Review, The Mississippi Review, Hot Metal Bridge, LitNImage, Filter, and The Best New American Voices anthology. Chase Us is his first book.
Publishers Weekly says: " Ennis’s debut collection provides glimpses into the lives of a cohort of boys from the outskirts of Philadelphia, who grow older but never really grow up. In most of the stories, the boys are adolescent—shooting bows and arrows, playing suicide against a wall with a tennis ball, drinking their first beers—and Ennis nails the spite, tenderness, and trepidation in the voice of both an 11-year-old boy and the man he becomes. Regarding the nun who is the boys’ teacher, the nameless narrator thinks, “She smiled when she explained to our class that she was married to Christ, but we knew it was really us she was bound to.” Whether he’s portraying a teenage war between skaters and “guidos” or the vulnerability of a father holding a newborn baby, the author presents the raw messiness of fear and confusion through a lyric cadence. Though some of the stories feel repetitive, it’s clear by the end of the book that Ennis has crafted a beautiful, hard-hitting collection. (May)
Booklist says: "Ennis’ debut story collection features young characters quick to test boundaries and friendships as they navigate adolescence through to young adulthood. The 11 stories are generally strung on an unnamed narrator’s unwieldy experiences, which are often infused by his ongoing relationship with a heady friend named Clip. “This Is Suicide” finds a gang of 11-year-old boys whose early rite of rebellion is discovered in abandoning mandated summer camp to play “Suicide,” a seemingly innocuous game involving a tennis ball that quickly devolves into rivalry and burgeoning violence. In the aptly titled “Darkflips,” a skateboard launch ramp holds a brash, macabre secret. In the title tale, wild Clip and his compatriots wreak havoc by knocking over unsuspecting joggers at a local Philadelphia park, until one encounter goes awry. “This Is Ambler” follows the narrator and his friends, college-aged and living together in a rented house, as they grow collectively intrigued by Clip’s new girlfriend. Ennis’ characters are vividly drawn, and he is fearless in exploring his characters’ hidden moments of gritty truth and unease. — Leah Strauss
Library Connect at the Roger Williams University Library says: Chase Us, Sean Ennis’ debut book, is a collection of eleven stories about his experiences growing up in the confusing, turbulent streets of Philadelphia, at times blurring the line between fiction and memoir. Beginning when he is just 11 and progressing chronologically into adulthood, Ennis’ stories depict his childhood learning experiential lessons while roaming the streets of Philadelphia with his cohort of friends.
Taken in whole, these stories highlight the difficulties of reaching maturity in the ever-changing and fast-paced modern world. In “Saint Kevin of Fox Chase,” a teenaged Ennis barely avoids a savage beating from a rival neighborhood, but his friend Kevin isn’t as lucky; halfway through the collection, Ennis and his college roommates suffer repeated break-ins until they are forced to leave town in “This is Ambler;” and in the final story, “This is Tomorrow,” Ennis, his wife, and his child must hunker down to survive a violent tornado.
Despite the hardships, Ennis infuses his stories with satire and wit. From the discovery of “Indians” in a cage in the city park to the purchase (and ensuing mishap) of an old school bus to the plea for help from a very stoned, “kidnapped” veteran at a house party, Chase Us will leave the reader laughing out loud and asking for more.
Sean Ennis highlights not just the chaotic nature of childhood, but also the chaotic nature of the world into adulthood. Written in bouncing prose that draws the reader in, Ennis crafts a beautifully written collection that depicts childhood as simultaneously brutal and comical. With raw emotions and honest feelings, Chase Us is a poignant testament to the challenges of growing older.
--Ryan Monahan
Bookriot says: This debut collection opens with a father coming home one Christmas Eve, hanging a sheet across the entrance to the living room, then with much “crashing and cursing” behind it, proceeds to build a greenhouse as a gift for his wife, an agoraphobe. When finished, the small shelter looks like “a drained aquarium.” The mother goes inside and stays there, not even coming out when her daughter goes missing on New Years Eve. It’s a haunting, powerful start to a book of linked stories about growing up in Philadelphia.
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