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The Customs Lounge

By Annie Proulx
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HumourScience-Fiction & FantasyShort Stories

About This Book

A troupe of immigration and customs inspectors trade wry, episodic anecdotes about processing human arrivals, recounting smuggling tricks, miscommunications, and odd encounters that reveal the routines of their work. The narrative moves through short vignettes of inspection, ridicule, and procedural improvisation, culminating in a bureaucratic decision that reshuffles how humans are handled. The tone blends dry humor with bureaucratic tedium, using small incidents to expose institutional prejudice, absurd regulations, and the practical frustrations of border control in a speculative environment.

About the Author

Proulx, Annie portrait

Annie Proulx

Annie Proulx is an acclaimed American author known for her vivid storytelling and rich character development. She gained significant recognition for her novel "The Shipping News," which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1994. Proulx's works often explore themes of place, identity, and the complexities of human relationships, frequently set against the backdrop of rural America. In addition to her novels, she has contributed to literature through short stories and essays, showcasing her versatility as a writer. "The Customs Lounge" is one of her notable works, reflecting her unique narrative style and keen observations of life.

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