Betty Superman
By Tiff Holland
Winner of the Fifth Annual Rose Metal Press Short Short Chapbook Contest
With an introduction by contest judge Kim Chinquee

Paperback, 44 pages, letterpressed covers
August 2011
ISBN: 978-0-9846166-2-6
$12.00

The stories in Betty Superman are true, except when they’re not. They’re based on Tiff Holland’s relationship with her mother, a story arc all its own, only Betty isn’t her mother and Holland’s not the narrator, not completely. Over the course of the chapbook, both Betty and the narrator suffer from serious illnesses. One of them is recovering; one of them is not. Consequently, they’ve ended up spending more time together. They have “adventures,” as Betty calls them. They inexplicably find themselves in Betty’s red PT Cruiser driving around to Walgreen’s and Cracker Barrel, selling gold for cash, and pumping gas. In unsentimental and percussive prose, Holland examines Betty as character, dragon lady, and mother.

“From beginning to end, Holland’s stories layer, offering colorful pictures that speak to one another, developing the angst and sympathy of the relationships between these family members into a complete whole. Each time I read this collection, I find more to love. From the humorous to the serious, each word speaks to me in a way that leaves me satisfied, with just enough wanting.”
—Kim Chinquee, author of Oh Baby

Read an Excerpt…

Tiff Holland is the author of Bone in a Tin Funnel, poems about Ménière’s, available through Pudding House Press. Her work has been thrice nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Her stories have been included in Wigleaf ’s top fifty and her story “The Boys” was one of storySouth’s top 100 in 2008. She has taught at Kent State University and now teaches at Austin Community College and lives in Round Rock, Texas. Her poetry, fiction, and non­fiction have appeared in over one hundred literary magazines, e-zines, and anthologies. She is a stroke survivor (2008) and one hell of a shot.