This memoir of being raised on a commune in the late 1960s and early 1970s is "a fascinating, evenhanded view of counterculture life" ( Booklist).Sandra Eugster's idealistic, headstrong mother created a commune in rural Virginia that came to be known as Nethers, and it was here that Sandra spent much of her childhood. This unique, honest memoir strives to accurately depict communal living in all its complexities. An array of colorful characters drifted into...

Fifty leading writers retell myths from around the world in this dazzling follow-up to the bestselling My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me.Icarus flies once more. Aztec jaguar gods again stalk the earth. An American soldier designs a new kind of Trojan horse—his cremains in a bullet. Here, in beguiling guise, are your favorite mythological figures alongside characters from Indian, Punjabi, Inuit, and other traditions.Aimee Bender

"Lara Williams makes a bold debut with this razor-sharp, magnificently humane story collection." — Entertainment WeeklyShe finds herself single, twenty-nine, partially-employed, and about a half a stone overweight. Roller dexter of eligible friends rattling thin. Thirties breathing down her neck like an inappropriate uncle. She jogs. Looks good in turquoise. Finds herself punctuating gas "better out than in!" patting her stomach like a department store ...

For the first time all of Carol Shields’ remarkable short stories – some previously unpublished – are gathered together in one volume.‘Carol Shields’ stories have given me happiness, not just pleasure’ Alice MunroIn the Collected Stories we bring together Carol Shields’ original short-story volumes, Various Miracles, The Orange Fish and Dressing Up for the Carnival, as well as many stories not previously published in the UK, including ‘Segue’, her last work.In these...

A man falls from a roof whilst spying on his beautiful widowed neighbour. A newly married couple seeking enlightenment take a three year vow of silence and move to a yurt in the Arizona desert. A handsome young man works in real-estate by day, but has a far more sinister profession by night. An elderly woman is determined to return to her home in the countryside, despite the knowledge that in doing so she may be signing her own death warrant. Giant men are kept in cages to ensure their nig...

In the worlds of Steve Rasnic Tem a father takes his son “fishing” in the deepest part of downtown, flayed rabbits visit a suburban back yard, a man is haunted by a surrealistic nightmare of crutches, a father is unable to rescue his son from a nightmare of trees, a bereaved man transforms memories of his wife into performance art, great moving cliffs of detritus randomly prowl the world, a seemingly pointless life finds final expression in bits of folded paper, a nuclear holocaust brings ...

Solitaire is the groundbreaking memoir of a young woman growing up in the 1970s and her triumph over anorexia nervosa.

Diane Williams, an American master of the short story who will “rewire your brain” (NPR), is back with a collection in which she once again expands the possibilities of fiction.These stories depict ordinary moments—a visit to the doctor’s office or a married couple’s hundredth dance together—but within the quotidian, Williams delivers a lifetime of insecurities, lusts, rejections, and revelations, making her work equally discomfiting and amusing. With unmatched wit...

The dozen stories in this delightful volume span the career of Kate Wilhelm, showcasing the wide-ranging works of this exceptional stylist. These stories include:"The Look Alike", in which a grieving young mother encounters a doppelganger of her lost daughter."Forever Yours, Anna", recipient of the 1988 Nebula Award for best short story."The Day of the Sharks", presents a relentless account of a woman recovering from a breakdown.Ranging from the harrowing to...

This work by Diane Williams delves into the strange relationships of men and women. From marital betrayal to spousal abuse and unrelenting desire, Williams illuminates the lives of her characters in prose as sparse and stark as it is beautiful. These stories are as short as prose poems and as complex as novels. In them, meanings remain ambiguous and consequences seem uncertain. In the novella “On Sexual Strength” she describes the intense and sometimes strange relationship between two neig...

30 short stories, plus 2 bonus stories. Told mostly from a woman's perspective, these stories are short breaks from everyday life that examine tiny vignettes of life.

In the middle of all the concrete and pavement and downright busy-ness that calls itself Manhattan sits a place of refuge where city people can come and experience a little bit of countryside. Where dogs and children run and play. Where even a monster can find a slice of serenity and possibly even a friend. Friendship comes in all shapes and sizes.So does Evil.The outcasts of Society, the freaks and the monsters, shamed and beaten into submission, know that Good doesn't alw...