Description
Book SynopsisA quietly powerful presence in American fiction in during the past two decades, these collected stories show the true scale of Hempel's achievement. Her compact fictions, populated by smart neurotic somewhat damaged narrators, speak grandly to the longings and insecurities in all of us, and in a voice that is bracingly direct and sneakily profound. These are stories about people who make choices that seem inevitable, whose longings and misgivings evoke eternal human experience. With her trademark compassion and wit, Hempel takes readers into the marriages, minor disasters and moments of revelation in an uneasy America.
Trade ReviewThe toughest party of reading The Dog of the Marriage is how much your jaw muscles ache from the effort it takes not to laugh and cry in front of strangers. Amy Hempel is my god among writers' Chuck Palahniuk. * Chuck Palahniuk *
Her work is an exemplar of the truth that the short story can be the briefest of affairs, but it can stay in the mind forever - Glasgow Herald. * Glasgow Herald *
These are astonishing stories, hilarious and surprising and insightful... if there's a funnier, smarter or richer book published this year, I will eat my shoes - Guardian. * Guardian *
Reaffirms her impressive mastery of fiction … Hempel's wit, insight and crisp writing make her work consistently powerful' Observer. * Observer *
Table of ContentsOn Amy Hempel. Reasons to Live: In a Tub; Tonight Is a Favor to Holly; Celia Is Back; Nashville Gone to Ashes; San Francisco; In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried; Beg, Sl Tog, Inc, Cont, Rep; Going; Pool Night; Three Popes Walk into a Bar; The Man in Bogota; When It's Human Instead of When It's Dog; Why I'm Here; Breathing Jesus; Today Will Be a Quiet Day. At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom: Daylight Come; The Harvest; The Most Girl Part of You; Rapture of the Deep; Du Jour; Murder; The Day I Had Everything; To Those of You Who Missed Your Connecting Flights Out of O'Hare; And Lead Us Not into Penn Station; In the Animal Shelter; At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom; The Lady Will Have the Slug Louie; Under No Moon; The Center; Tom-Rock Through the Eels; The Rest of God. Tumble Home: Weekend; Church Cancels Cow; The Children's Party; Sportsman; Housewife; The Annex; The New Lodger; Tumble Home; Notes. The Dog of the Marriage: Beach Town; Jesus Is Waiting; The Uninvited; Reference #388475848-5; What Were the White Things?; The Dog of the Marriage; The Afterlife; Memoir; Offertory; Notes.
