"A master of the short story" discusses every aspect of the writing process, from story structure to staying focused, in this candid essay collection ( Booklist).Ron Carlson's short stories have been featured in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, and elsewhere, while his numerous collections have won critical acclaim. In this series of personal essays, Carlson explores his own process, inviting the reader to watch over his shoulder as he c...

Prepare to be amused, moved, disturbed. These stories by a master of idiosyncrasy visit a world where wit has heft, charm has shadow, and human beings act out all the complicated nuances of love.In the title story, a young man waiting in the Hotel Eden discovers—as others have—that Eden is not a permanent domicile. In "Zanduce at Second," a baseball player turned killer-by-accident undergoes a surprising transformation. We root for escaped felon Ray ("A Note on the...

World-renown cult experts Ron Carlson and Ed Decker combine their extensive knowledge to give readers quick, clear facts on the major cults and false teachings of today. Short, informative chapters contrast the cults' theologies with the truth found in God's Word. Readers will discover the key facts on...AtheismBuddhismEvolutionHinduismIslamSatanismAnd moreFast Facts® on False Teachings is an easy-to-use resource that provides powerful insights for sharing the biblical gospel with people e...

"These stories are full of surprises, jolts, and lightning strikes of recognition. Do yourself a favor and read Ron Carlson." —Stephen KingRon Carlson's stories, sometimes wicked or bittersweet, often zany, are rich with a hard-earned hopefulness frequently absent in contemporary fiction. In this generous gathering from collections no longer available, longtime fans and new readers alike can savor the development of a master of idiosyncrasy.Properly celebra...

“ [A] moving novel about friendship, forgiveness, and mortality.” —Nancy Pearl, NPR’s Morning EditionRon Carlson has always been a critics’ favorite, but Return to Oakpine shows the acclaimed writer at his finest. In this tender and nostalgic portrait of western American life, Carlson tells the story of four middle-aged friends who once played in a band while growing up together in small-town Wyoming. One of them, Jimmy Brand, left for New York Ci...

Beloved story writer Ron Carlson's first novel in thirty years, Five Skies is the story of three men gathered high in the Rocky Mountains for a construction project that is to last the summer. Having participated in a spectacular betrayal in Los Angeles, the giant, silent Arthur Key drifts into work as a carpenter in southern Idaho. Here he is hired, along with the shiftless and charming Ronnie Panelli, to build a stunt ramp beside a cavernous void. The two will be led by Darwin Gallegos, ...

These stories come at us from every direction. They are Ron Carlson's response to the eighties, the stories we will want by our sides as the decade ends.Whether it is a husband trying to bring his marriage back together or Bigfoot finally coming forward, Carlson's characters speak with radical honesty that is disarming. They are the men and women all around us who open the refrigerator at two in the morning and see the faces of missing children on the milk carton. ...

"The Signal accelerates like an avalanche...If men can't be brought back to fiction by books as fine as this one, it's their own damn fault."-The Washington PostRon Carlson, author of the critically acclaimed Five Skies, is an award-winning writer beloved by booksellers, reviewers, and readers alike. His most thrilling book to date, The Signal follows the story of Mack and Vonnie, a married couple who, after ten years toge...

If you met Ron Carlson, CEO of a Chicago-based architectural firm, you wouldn't necessarily think of him as the daredevil type. But Ron's life has been a series of death-defying exploits. Into the Unknown: True Stories of a Pilot Cheating Death chronicles a few of Ron's most brazen endeavors, from flying to the high Arctic and being stalked by polar bears to bailing out of an old World War II bomber before it crashes.Ron undertakes the adventures in these tales to satisfy ...

" We lean closer and closer, eager to catch every last word." said The New York Times Book Review. " Bigger, richer, funnier, and more complex than any description of them can convey," said the San Francisco Chronicle. " Some of the funniest and saddest stories ever to cozy up together," said the Los Angeles Times. Welcome to the short stories of Ron Carlson, where strange beach towels turn up in your living room; where the ordinary so...

“If you can read this one without getting a lump in your throat, turn yourself in to the nearest mortuary. Your heart has ceased to function. This book is about the innate hunger of the human heart to belong. To be part of a family unit whether or not there are blood ties. It’s about the refusal of the American adult to be bothered with those young enough or old enough to be a nuisance. And it’s about the most touching book I’ve read in many a moon.” —Carolyn Vaughter, Houston ...

“Ron Carlson’s novel is in the coming-of-age tradition, with the contemporary attributes of humor and cool. . . . I liked Larry for his unpretentiousness, his wry, caring angle on experience.” —New York TimesIn this tender, comic novel, Larry Boosinger—graduate student, writer, garage attendant, escaped convict (and perhaps a person)—has one foot in late adolescence while he searches frantically for a place to put the other. Beset by illusions, attracted b...