Groundscratchers. Stories by Gabriel Welsch. Paperback. 192 pages. October 19th, 2021. ISBN 9781948800457.

The characters in Groundscratchers are not always great role models. They keep secrets, surrender to petty impulses, and too often let pride keep them from giving or receiving the compassion that could improve their lives. But they remain a sympathetic bunch in how they strive to see their actions honestly, even when such knowledge won’t undo all the losses they have incurred. Gabriel Welsch presents their stories with unrelenting clarity but also a tenderness that affirms at least the possibility of redemption. Each sentence is a joy of craftsmanship, lyrical language that does not describe these narrative worlds so much as incant them to life. I cannot say what makes a great work of fiction in the abstract, but I do know that Welsch’s characters feel realer to me than many flesh-and-blood humans. Groundscratchers is a remarkable achievement fashioned over two decades, a collection both modest and intense, where even the quietest exchanges invite revelation.

-J. David Stevens, author of Mexico is Missing and I and You