Description
Book SynopsisLonglisted for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction
Finalist for the 2021 Aspen Words Literary Prize
Mingling the earthy with the otherworldly, these ten stories chronicle ineffable events in ordinary lives.
Trade Review"Randall Kenan is an American master and
If I Had Two Wings is his latest gift to us. These unforgettable characters cannot be confined to a page. They are real; they are flawed; they are beautifully human. Each gorgeous story contains a world in miniature and a human spirit in full flower." -- Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage
"This is a riveting collection of stories with a vibrant cast of characters, both corporeal and fantastical, and a stunning sense of place. Stories—comic, tragic, and human; with themes of faith, fury, chicanery, miracles, and weather—swirl out from Down East North Carolina, touch down gently around the world, and come home to the magnetic center of Tims Creek. It was a pleasure to live in this book." -- Lydia Kiesling, author of The Golden State
"Oh, the magic and music Randall Kenan brings to the page. He is a beautiful writer, full of surprises, and his latest masterful collection,
If I Had Two Wings, is a mesmerizing showcase of his many talents. He can make poetry of pigs feet, deliver brilliant social commentary, illuminate the ghosts of a time and place, and leave you aching for childhood memories of comfort and longing." -- Jill McCorkle, author of Life After Life
"The slyly soulful Kenan takes his time between books. Now he rewards readers who have waited almost three decades for a return to his fictional Tims Creek, North Carolina... It is a feast. Ten artful stories conjure contemporary North Carolina, mouthwatering and matter-of-factly haunted." -- Kirkus (starred review)
