Description
Book Synopsis"Paul Griner's Hurry Please I Want to Know takes the reader on a sweeping tour of America—from Iraqi soldiers to prison telemarketers, from famous cartoonists to bone procurers, from missing persons to the resurrected dead—the real, the surreal, and everything in-between. Griner seems to know everybody's secrets, and this astonishing collection sets out to reveal them."—Dan Chaon, author of Await Your Reply and Stay Awake
"Paul Griner finds surprising and inventive ways to write about a wide range of sometimes uncomfortable—but always interesting—situations. The writing is careful, precise, shocking—stylistically brilliant. The stories are sometimes surreal, but convincing all the same. They take your breath away!"—Bobbie Ann Mason, author of The Girl in the Blue Beret and In Country
A stylized and otherworldly short story collection filled with sidelined characters placed at center stage. A low-ranking soldier is forced to milk a cow within enemy range. A cartoonist's daughter waits each morning to see how her father's mood dictates how he will draw her face. Grieving siblings wait to inherit one of their father's physical features after his death.
Paul Griner's first book, the story collection Follow Me, was a Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers pick. His next two books, the novels Collectors and The German Woman, have been published in half a dozen languages. His work has appeared in Ploughshares, Playboy, One Story, Tin House, Narrative, and Zoetrope, among others. He teaches at the University of Louisville.
Trade ReviewFeatured in Oprah Daily Winner of the 2016 Kentucky Literary Award Finalist for Foreword Reviews' INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award "Twenty-two stories ranging in length from a few paragraphs to 20 or so pages and in style from the freakishly absurd to the heartbreakingly realistic. Griner excels in his longer stories, one of which"On Board the SS Irresponsible"borders on being a masterpiece. . . . Griner's stories shine a glaring light on the complexities of human personality and family relationships.” Kirkus, Starred Review "Griner approaches everyday tragedies by building elaborate machines and shaky structures in the hope of creating a facsimile of life that might somehow become real....A pleasure." The New York Times "In his second story collection, Griner overlays tales of family, artistry, and parent-child relationships with elements of the surreal, in order to create, in the words of one character, 'an undercurrent of mournfulness' . . . . A line from 'Immanent in the Last Sheaf,' another masterly short piece, could serve as the collection’s mission statement: 'It was better not to guess,' the protagonist tell us, 'than to guess incorrectly.'" Publishers Weekly "Griner's stories...reveal the miraculous and the terrifying.... Like the ever-shifting landscapes encountered by Griner's characters, these stories channel unpredictability in a variety of ways, memorably showcasing the literal and figurative dangers around us." Minneapolis Star Tribune "This eclectic yet wonderfully coherent collection proves once again Griner’s acute grasp of the complex and slippery emotions leading from gladness to mourning
. [T]he one constant in Griner’s stories is that the pain of loss is inevitable and unfathomably difficult to deal with. This is not to say that the stories, with their deadpan narrators, impossible ethical dilemmas, and often bizarre and dream-like internal laws, do not also manage to be hysterically funny. Griner understands that, at their core, emotions are physiological noise, and he expertly evokes situations in which the reader is invited to indulge in almost medical self-observation before responding to the stories’ absurdities and profundities with the same narrow embodied repertoirelaughter, sadness, confusionas Griner’s protagonists and narrators." The Carolina Quarterly Paul Griner finds surprising and inventive ways to write about a wide range of sometimes uncomfortablebut always interestingsituations. The writing is careful, precise, shockingstylistically brilliant. The stories are sometimes surreal, but convincing all the same. They take your breath away!” Bobbie Ann Mason, author of The Girl in the Blue Beret "Paul Griner's Hurry Please I Want to Know takes the reader on a sweeping tour of Americafrom Iraqi soldiers to prison telemarketers, from famous cartoonists to bone procurers, from missing persons to the resurrected deadthe real, the surreal and everything in-between. Griner seems to know everybody's secrets, and this astonishing collection sets out to reveal them. Dan Chaon, author of Await Your Reply and Stay Awake Paul Griner is a daredevil of a storyteller, fearless but always in control, equally adept at wild satire and sharp-edged domestic drama. Anyone who cares about the short storyor just loves good writingshould make a beeline for this remarkable collection.” Tom Perrotta
Winner of the 2016 Kentucky Literary Award Finalist for Foreword Reviews' INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award "Twenty-two stories ranging in length from a few paragraphs to 20 or so pages and in style from the freakishly absurd to the heartbreakingly realistic.Griner excels in his longer stories, one of which—"On Board the SS Irresponsible"—borders on being a masterpiece. . . . Griner's stories shine a glaring light on the complexities of human personality and family relationships.” —Kirkus, Starred Review "Griner approaches everyday tragedies by building elaborate machines and shaky structures in the hope of creating a facsimile of life that might somehow become real....A pleasure." —The New York Times "In his second story collection, Griner overlays tales of family, artistry, and parent-child relationships with elements of the surreal, in order to create, in the words of one character, 'an undercurrent of mournfulness' . . . . A line from 'Immanent in the Last Sheaf,' another masterly short piece, could serve as the collection’s mission statement: 'It was better not to guess,' the protagonist tell us, 'than to guess incorrectly.'" —Publishers Weekly "Griner's stories...reveal the miraculous and the terrifying.... Like the ever-shifting landscapes encountered by Griner's characters, these stories channel unpredictability in a variety of ways, memorably showcasing the literal and figurative dangers around us." —Minneapolis Star Tribune "This eclectic yet wonderfully coherent collection proves once again Griner’s acute grasp of the complex and slippery emotions leading from gladness to mourning…. [T]he one constant in Griner’s stories is that the pain of loss is inevitable and unfathomably difficult to deal with. This is not to say that the stories, with their deadpan narrators, impossible ethical dilemmas, and often bizarre and dream-like internal laws, do not also manage to be hysterically funny. Griner understands that, at their core, emotions are physiological noise, and he expertly evokes situations in which the reader is invited to indulge in almost medical self-observation before responding to the stories’ absurdities and profundities with the same narrow embodied repertoire—laughter, sadness, confusion—as Griner’s protagonists and narrators." —The Carolina Quarterly “Paul Griner finds surprising and inventive ways to write about a wide range of sometimes uncomfortable—but always interesting—situations. The writing is careful, precise, shocking—stylistically brilliant. The stories are sometimes surreal, but convincing all the same. They take your breath away!” —Bobbie Ann Mason, author of The Girl in the Blue Beret "Paul Griner's Hurry Please I Want to Know takes the reader on a sweeping tour of America—from Iraqi soldiers to prison telemarketers, from famous cartoonists to bone procurers, from missing persons to the resurrected dead–the real, the surreal and everything in-between. Griner seems to know everybody's secrets, and this astonishing collection sets out to reveal them. —Dan Chaon, author of Await Your Reply and Stay Awake “Paul Griner is a daredevil of a storyteller, fearless but always in control, equally adept at wild satire and sharp-edged domestic drama. Anyone who cares about the short story—or just loves good writing—should make a beeline for this remarkable collection.” —Tom Perrotta
Table of ContentsAnimati Newbie Was Here The Only Appearance of Rice The Wind, It Blows Forever Hotei Why I Like the Blues A Sharp Winter, an Obese Smile, On Board the SS Irresponsible Immanent in the Last Sheaf Find Your Real Job and Do It The Caricaturist’s Daughter Betrayal The Builder’s Errors Mum on the Rocks Trapped in the Temple of Athena Lands and Times Separate Love Balloon Rides Ten Dollars Open Season Rock, Paper, Scissors Home For The Holidays Three Hundred Words of Grief
