In his new collection of short fiction, Mean Uncle Joe, Mark Lawrence Lui draws upon his childhood in Racine, Wisconsin-especially the trials of attending Catholic school-to tell short, powerful stories about growing up and understanding the world.

Young Mark lives in a German neighborhood with his brother, sister, parents, grandparents, eight great-aunts, and four great-uncles. The great-aunts all have names beginning with M, and the uncles all have names beginning with P-except for one.

Mean Uncle Joe is the standout-and not just for his name. The cranky old man survived a war and seven different types of cancer. Mark's grandfather declares that God wants nothing to do with Joe and that the devil doesn't want the competition. The eight great-aunts silently agree. And yet five-year-old Mark actually likes his cantankerous great-uncle.

So it's especially strange that Mark is the one who finally kills him.

Uncle Joe's unexpected end is just one of the strange and often hilarious misadventures that befall poor Mark. In addition to Uncle Joe's demise, Lui's stories explore the changing culture of the sixties, young Mark's evolving relationship with his sister and brother, and the trouble he gets up to in Catholic school!