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...

"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...

"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...

" 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...

“ [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...

Au cœur de l'Idaho et des montagnes Rocheuses, trois hommes se trouvent réunis pour réaliser une étrange construction au-dessus d'un canyon.Chacun est muré dans son propre isolement et tente de fuir son passé.Il y a d'abord Arthur Key, colosse taciturne qui a subitement quitté Los Angeles, puis le jeune et indolent Ronnie Panelli, petit voleur à la tire. Tous deux ont été embauchés à la hâte par Darwin Gallegos, lui-même en colère contre Dieu et les hommes ...

Pour la dernière fois, Mack et sa femme Vonnie partent camper dans les montagnes du Wyoming.Enlisé dans les dettes, l'alcool et les petits trafics, Mack a peu à peu contraint Vonnie à renoncer à leur amour et à refaire sa vie. Cette randonnée d'adieu résonne comme un moment de complicité retrouvée, une ultime occasion de se révéler l'un à l'autre.Cette expédition est aussi pour Mack l'occasion d'accomplir une dernière mission pour le compte d'un intermédiai...

"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...

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, ...

La petite ville d'Oakpine, au cœur des magnifiques paysages du Wyoming, offre une vie paisible à ses habitants.Et c'est à cela qu'aspire Jimmy, 50 ans, atteint du sida. Devenu un écrivain renommé à New York, il souhaite désormais retrouver sa ville natale pour y passer les derniers mois de sa vie, et renouer avec ses parents.Il découvre que le destin vient de réunir à Oakpine ses trois meilleurs amis d'enfance : Craig, Frank et Mason.Chacun a fait so...

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. ...

In The News of the World, Ron Carlson's celebrated last collection, it was widely noted that the news was good. Here, as everybody goes to Plan B, the news is stronger, edgy, and bittersweet.Here are men and women in the middle--of life, of relationships. There is a difference between what they set out for and what they get. A single mother keeps house on an aircraft carrier. A new father finds himself seduced by a motorcycle. A lonely professor is forced ...