Th is debut collection by James Terry contains ten stories, all set in Deming, New Mexico. Th ey are occasionally linked by recurring characters, more often by references to common places— Sonic, Family Valu, Kingdom of the Sun Retirement Center— and most of all by recurring themes— thwarted aspiration, middleaged nostalgia, the allures and hazards of rural living. Characters in Terry’s stories regularly demonstrate a simultaneous dissatisfaction with, and a certain comfort taken in, smalltown southwestern life; there is an innocent, insular quality about the characters’ worldview in relation to setting. In “Double Feature,” for example, a Deming truckstop waitress is said to be “transformed” when a customer reveals to her he’s on the road from California:

中文翻译：

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太阳王国：詹姆斯·特里的故事

詹姆斯·特里 (James Terry) 的首部作品集包含十个故事，所有故事都发生在新墨西哥州的戴明。它们偶尔会通过反复出现的角色联系起来，更多的是通过引用共同的地方——索尼克、家庭价值、太阳退休中心——最重要的是通过反复出现的主题——挫败的愿望、中年的怀旧、农村生活的诱惑和危险. 特里故事中的人物经常表现出对西南小镇生活的不满和某种安慰；与背景相关的角色世界观有一种天真、孤立的品质。例如，在“Double Feature”中，当一位顾客向她透露他正在从加利福尼亚来的路上时，Deming 卡车停靠站的女服务员被称为“转变”：