I Want to Show You More by Jamie Quatro

“Passionate, sensuous, savagely intense, and remarkable . . . Moves between carnality and spirit like some franker, modernized Flannery O’Connor.”—James Wood, The New Yorker

“An obsessive first collection that feels like a fifth or sixth. . . . Strange, thrilling, and disarmingly honest.”—J. Robert Lennon, The New York Times Book Review

Susan Steinberg

In this inventive collection of linked stories, women confront loss and grief as they sift through the wreckage of their lives. A woman struggles with the death of her friend in a plane crash. A daughter decides whether to take her father off life support in the Pushcart Prize-winning “Cowboys.” And when a man hits his girlfriend, she calls it an accident. Spectacle bears witness to alarming and strange incidents: carnival rides and plane crashes, affairs spied through keyholes and amateur porn, vandalism and petty theft. Steinberg challenges conventional gender roles and subverts assumptions about narrative with a fierce, lyric intensity, as these wounded women stand at the edge of disaster and risk it all to speak their sharpest secrets. A vital and turbulent book from a distinctive voice, Spectacle will break your heart, and then, before the last page is turned, will bind it up anew. (graywolfpress)

Trilogy: A Collection by Prudence MacGregor

Review:
MacGregor presents to us a collection of three strange and wonderful tales about everyday people. This is a work of fiction. The events and characters described are imaginary and are not intended to refer to specific places or living persons. Although the characters are common, their conflicts are out of the ordinary. All of these stories have a lesson for not only the characters to learn, but for the reader as well. MacGregor takes us on a quest alongside the main characters as they find their way in unbelievable circumstances.

"Parallelograms"
Have you ever wondered what it would be like if you had a twin or a double? What if finding this other you only created chaos? This is the first story that revolves around the protagonist Justine, a young girl who has an affinity for many things. She loves to read and questions everything. Her life is usually pretty organized and unfettered until she meets her double and things spiral out of control. Now she has to try to make sense of her life, and find her purpose in the world.

"Random"
Ulyssa Archer, Lyss to her friends and parents- was an only child and liked it that way. The story starts off when her Mother and Dad head off to a tropical resort in the Caribbean for the New Year. She is off from college for one more week before the next semester begins and has hatched a plan. Ulyssa is going to write a note, attach it to a balloon and see where it lands. The note read:
My name is Ulyssa Archer, but whoever finds this can call me Lyss. I sent this up not knowing where it would land. Please, if you find this, do call me on my cell phone number, and do leave a message if I'm not there. Just please let me know you got it and where you're from. I am doing this as a special project. Thanks very much. What seemed like an honest exercise in human contact, turns in to a wild ride that picture perfect Ulyssa may not be able to handle.

"Up There"
Often times we hear an airplane passing over head and wonder where the passengers are going and where did they come from. Gregory M., a simple office worker quite often engages in this activity and is fascinated by the jets that he notices in the sky. This begins to cause a problem for him, clouding his sense of reality and fantasy. He innocently meets an attractive motivational speaker, Sherry, who happens to have a connection to one of the planes and his nice, simple world begins to become interesting.

Overall, MacGregor's writing is similar to a great science fiction short story with normal everyday characters whose lives take a paranormal twist. I really enjoyed this book as I love books with paranormal themes and liked the last two stories in the trilogy slightly more than the first one.

Full Disclosure: Many thanks to the author and 'The Cadence Group' as I received a copy of this book for free from them.

Anne Valente Named Winner of Dzanc Short Story Collection Contest

May 31, 2012, Ann Arbor, MI-Dzanc Books is pleased to announce that Anne Valente is the winner of our 2011 short story collection contest. Valente's manuscript, By Light We Knew Our Names, was selected from more than 250 submissions. This collection will be published in October 2014. Steven Gillis, Publisher and Co-Founder at Dzanc Books, notes: "Anne's writing is unique as she has the capacity to create stories that are at once magical-with baby giraffes gift-wrapped and given as birthday presents-and at the same time entirely believable and personal. The characters in each of Anne's stories are real people, fully developed and fleshed out, and yet the tales told are also brilliantly imaginative and like no others." "I just wanted to express how absolutely thrilled I am to be among the authors that Dzanc has published and will publish," Valente reacted. "I have been an admirer and avid reader of Dzanc's books for many years, and I couldn't be happier that my collection found a home with such an incredible press. Truly, this is a wonderful honor." ABOUT ANNE VALENTE Anne Valente's fiction appears or is forthcoming in Hayden's Ferry Review, CutBank, Sou'wester, Freight Stories and Bellevue Literary Review, among other journals, and her work was selected as a notable story in Best American Non-Required Reading 2011.  Originally from St. Louis, she currently lives in Ohio where she teaches writing and literature. FINALISTS The short list of finalists consisted of collections from Tetman Callis, Pete Duval, Jessica Hollander, Ben Jahn, Pedro Ponce, Michael Sheehan, Stephen Tuttle, Anthony Varallo, Richard Weems, and Kellie Wells. The long list also included collections from Thomas Barrett, Tanaz Bhathena, Daniel Chacon, Amy Clark, Josh Denslow, Gary Fincke, Scott Garson, Lisa Gornick, Katherine Hester, Patrick Hicks, Tom Hopkins, Jamie Iredell, Randa Jarrar, Andrea Kneeland, Victoria Large, Sarah Malone, Megan Martin, Sarah McCarty, Kate Milliken, Donald J. Modica, Andy Mozina, Daniel Mueller, Devin Murphy, Phong Nguyen, Paul Pedroza, Micah Perks, Caroline Picard, Liz Prato, Nick Ripatrazone, Terry Rogers, and Daniel Torday.

Etgar Keret's stories read by an all-star cast

About the Author: Born in Tel Aviv in 1967, Etgar Keret is the author of six bestselling story collections. His writing has been published in Harper’s Magazine, The New York Times, The Paris Review, and Zoetrope. Jellyfish, his first movie as a director along with his wife, Shira Geffen, won the Camera d’Or prize for best first feature at Cannes in 2007. In 2010 he was named a Chevalier of France’s Order of Arts and Letters.

About the Book: Bestselling author Etgar Keret’s short story collection, "Suddenly, A Knock On The Door," has assembled a truly all-star cast of celebrities, actors and literary greats. Ira Glass, Josh Radnor, Jonathan Safran Foer, Willem Dafoe, Josh Charles, Neal Stephenson, George Saunders, Ben Foster, Mathieu Amalric, Aimee Bender, Miranda July, Ben Marcus, John Sayles, Gary Shteyngart, Stella Schnabel, Nathan Englander, Michael Chabon, and more have all narrated stories for the audiobook – and the final product sounds absolutely amazing! Many of the narrators are even planning on attending Keret’s events in their cities and reading along with him!

An Excerpt: "Tell me a story," the bearded man sitting on my living-room sofa commands. The situation, I must say, is anything but pleasant. I'm someone who writes stories, not someone who tells them. And even that isn't something I do on demand. The last time anyone asked me to tell him a story, it was my son. That was a year ago. I told him something about a fairy and a ferret--I don't even remember what exactly--and within two minutes he was fast asleep. But the situation is fundamentally different. Because my son doesn't have a beard, or a pistol. Because my son asked for the story nicely, and this man is simply trying to rob me of it. 

I try to explain to the bearded man that if he puts his pistol away it will only work in his favor, in our favor. It's hard to think up a story with the barrel of a loaded pistol pointed at your head. But the guy insists. "In this country," he explains, "if you want something, you have to use force." He just got here from Sweden, and in Sweden it's completely different. Over there, if you want something, you ask politely, and most of the time you get it. But not in the stifling, muggy Middle East. All it takes is one week in this place to figure out how things work--or rather, how things don't work.

To finish reading this excerpt, visit the Macmillan Audio book website HERE! 

My Thoughts/Review: I'm quite fond of the printed word, but I must say this collection might be best enjoyed as an audio book. Each piece has been brilliantly translated so that one forgets completely that it was originally conceived in another language. One of the best collections I've ever listened to and suggest you definitely consider the audio over the print version. 

The first story starts with the command "Tell me a story." Under gunpoint, the narrator - Etgar - is ordered to make up a story. He is interrupted early on: "That's not a story...That's an eyewitness report. It's exactly what's happening here and now. Exactly what we're trying to run away from. Don't you go and dump reality on us like a garbage truck. Use your imagination, man, create, invent, take it all the way." This story sounds like a joke. It’s compact, humorous, bizarre and packs a punch. What a great way to begin an audio collection. 

Keret’s stories are strange and slightly fantastical, funny, dark, impressive and affecting and I am often tickled and surprised by the way they develop and resolve themselves.  In “Lieland”, where the subjects of lies become real, is one of my favorites on disc one. The protagonist, Robbie, learns that his lies live and thrive in another dimension and he meets his "lies come alive" simply by turning a handle. If you like Kafka and think Vonnegut was a genius, then boy are you going to love this short story collection.

With overtones of science fiction and fantasy, Keret still maintains a sense of reality in his writing. In “Unzipping” the narrator finds a small zipper under her lover's tongue; when she pulls it, he opens up "like an oyster" with a second man revealed. This allows her to remove his current outward appearance, causing him to shed his previous personality and name, thus becoming a completely new person. I was intrigued by this concept, until the notion of the character discovering her own zipper was broached, and then the sadness of the story became real. 

One of the most striking stories is “What, of this Goldfish, Would You Wish?” an obvious play on the Aladdin tale. The conflict reveals a documentary film-maker who is planning to knock on random doors and record the reactions of residents to the question: “If you found a talking goldfish that granted you three wishes, what would you wish for?” This becomes awkward, when he knocks on the door of Sergei Goralick, who has just such a fish in a jar on his kitchen counter. 

Overall, I enjoyed the audio readings more than expected and looked forward to hearing how each and every writer and actor narrated these dynamic stories. My favorites, not in any particular order are: “Cheesus Christ”, “Mystique”, “Black and Blue”, “Not Completely Alone”, “One Step Beyond”, “Joseph”, and “Parallel Universes”.

Disclosure:  I received a copy of Suddenly, A Knock On The Door gratis. Any opinions expressed are my honest opinions and were not impacted by my receipt of the free audio. I received no monetary compensation for this post.

CHIARA BARZINI

Calamari Press is pleased to announce the release of a debut collection of short fictions by Chiara Barzini: SISTER STOP BREATHING. 


The book is available now through Small Press Distribution (& soon from Amazon) & also as an Ebook: http://www.calamaripress.com/Sister_Stop_Breathing.htm

Chiara will be in NYC this month doing a number of readings to launch the book: 
• Jan 21 at KGB Bar with Daniel Long, Michael Bible, Tao Lin & Giancarlo DiTrapano
• Jan 23 at Unnameable Books with Kate Schatz & Iris Smyles

Vicky Swanky Is a Beauty by Diane Williams

"She is one of the very few contemporary prose writers who seem to be doing something independent, energetic, heartfelt."
—Lydia Davis

"The uncanny has met its ideal delivery system: the stories of Diane Williams."
—Ben Marcus

"These stories are the Giacometti walking man, the Cornell box, that extraordinary object born out of a genius for expressing the inner murmur of the mind. Each page is like throwing open the window in an electrical storm—strange sky, air full of voltage, and inside, a square of brave. Diane Williams is hilarious, brilliant, eccentric, powerful, and, luckily, ours."
—Deb Olin Unferth

I Knew You'd Be Lovely by Alethea Black

Review: Over the summer I had the distinct pleasure of attending a writing retreat with Alethea Black, where she was the guest author and presenter. Not only was she a pleasure to be around, but you were easily drawn to her voice and the way she spoke about writing. She immediately reminded me of a small handful of authors that I hold in such high regard for their ability to tell a story and draw out multiple emotions from an audience. Even though her collection of short stories are really quick reads, one should experience them in small sittings in order to savor each character's journey. She is truly an author that I myself will continue to follow and will suggest her pieces to readers alike. By far the most interesting addition to the book is the Author’s Notes feature in which Alethea offers the back story and genesis of each of the stories. This gives the reader a unique and interesting glimpse into the creative process and also a chance for the author to get personal.

About the author:

Alethea Black was born in Boston and graduated from Harvard in 1991. Her debut story collection, I Knew You’d Be Lovely (Broadway, 2011), was chosen for the Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers program and as Book of the Week on Oprah.com.

A glimpse at some of her stories:
"The Only Way Out Is Through" -A teenage boy attempts suicide while on a camping trip with his father. "Don't do this," the father pleads. "We can make it better. But not if you end it. If you end it now, it will never get any better than this." 


"Mollusk Makes a Comeback" -Twenty-something Katie struggles to find a beautiful path while everything around her goes wrong at once. She gets fired from a bookstore after suggesting that a customer someday read the actual books represented by his CliffsNotes. "Yeah, I could do that," he replies, casually handing her a hundred-dollar bill. "But then again, look where that go you." In the title story, a woman struggles to get her husband a more clever, thoughtful birthday present than his potential mistress might. 


"We've Got a Great Future Behind Us" -A down-and-out singer-songwriter spends a weekend in Nashville with a once-famous songwriting duo who divorced so acrimoniously that they haven't spoken in years ... until they come together to record one last love song. The above three summaries are taken from Linkedin.


Click here to read the short story "The Boathouse".
Click here to listen to a podcast interview with Work Stew.

Provocative writers spin full, captivating, illuminating stories in 300 words or less.

They're short (and we mean short), intense (imagine a novel crossed with a haiku), and mesmerizing (whether they're illuminating a single moment or a whole life). O challenged eight provocative writers to tell us a story in 300 words or less. The result: eight little beauties that leave a wake of wonder and wondering. So read, and then reread. Bet you can't read just one....

Read more: http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/Micro-Fiction-Short-Stories-from-Famous-Writers#ixzz1V7tGI66k

Asunder by Robert Lopez

Review:

Like his previous works, Part of the World and

Kamby Bolongo Mean River, Asunder is a beautiful exercise of the relationship between language and reality. Lopez carefully considers each word before abandoning it on the page, and it shows especially in his most recent masterpiece. Each story is only a few pages long, but packed with memorable characters that leave a lasting taste in your mouth.

In "Vaya Con Huevos" we meet two despicables in conversation. Never hearing of people considering themselves despicable in a story made me want to read more to find out just who they were and what made them label themselves in this way. I just love the concluding lines: "I can't hear what it is they're whispering but I don't have to. I know because it is on their faces. It is all over everyone's faces." The prose is simple and powerful; it reminds the reader that sometimes more is conveyed physically than verbally.

Throughout the collection Lopez provides narratives surrounding characters that are usually loners or outsiders. The man with the geographic tongue is in this corner. In the "Geographic Tongue" Lopez takes us on a journey narrated by a mysterious man. He dabbles in the world of religion and nature presenting us with an odd character that is unappealing, but lovable at the same time.

Included in Asunder is Lopez’s "The Trees Underground" A Novella in Shorts. In this series, Lopez chronicles the life of an unpaid worker in a home for the blind. Lopez stays consistent in style to his short stories. The novella’s narrative is very concise, with each chapter making an effort to repeat exact phrases. For example: Blind Betty knows about the TV and refrigerator because I told her once. The blindsters always remember what it is you tell them. Must be because they’re blind and don’t have to remember what anything looks like. Although it is a little too repetitive for this readers taste, the prose allows for a better understanding of the story.

Overall, admirers of the short-short form will appreciate this collection. Lopez pays attention to the minutiae of prose and even his novella is as engaging as the first half of the collection.

Love Doesn't Work

Love Doesn't Work

Henning Koch

Release Date: January 11, 2011
ISBN: 978-0982631812 Price: $16.95

Review:

The latest book by Henning Koch is as readable and entertaining as any classic short story collection. Although Koch was born in Sweden, his voice mirrors the American Woody Allen's wit, minus his obsessive neuroticism. Each of the stories here has their own characters and contexts, but love is a unifying thread linking them to one another.

One of the most original works in the collection is "In Memoriam, Ingmar Bergman". Funny, mysterious and also romantic at the same time, Koch weaves together a beautiful piece reminiscent of the movie "Being John Malkovich".

"Life is a rare mystery. When we look beyond our lives, we see only darkness." These are the opening lines to the short story "My Gift, My Dictation". Being a fan of the essay, I was captivated by the language so fluidly used in this piece. Although it is not in the typical essay format, it had similar qualities of a typical essay. Koch hit upon all of my favorite topics of discussion: language, religion and the meaning of life. I was drawn in from the first to the last line of the masterpiece.

The only story in this collection that I had a hard time following was "Have You Met Lumpa?" It reminded me of most adult themed cartoons that I have seen in the past ten years. It was strangely weird and I find myself thinking about its meaning. Maybe it's way over my head. Overall, this is a powerful, life affirming and boldly funny collection that everyone should experience. I look forward to reading more by Koch in the near future.

Description: Love Doesn't Work offers classic storytelling with profound, startling insights into human desire and its shortfalls. Inspired by the ancient Cathars, these seven tales present a vision of life as an inevitable struggle against ignorance, darkness and sexual confusion. Devilish and playful in tone, they leave the reader with a sense of outraged satisfaction and delight.

Author: Henning Koch's writing started with screenplays. Between 2002 and 2007, he worked as a translator and dramaturge for Yellow Bird Films, makers of Henning Mankell's Wallander series for television/cinema in Scandinavia, Germany and the UK. In 2005, Koch moved to Sardinia, off the coast of Italy, where he spent three years writing the short story collection Love Doesn't Work and the novel The Maggot People (forthcoming September 2012).

Here's the Jacket Copy:

Enduring her jet-set life in Sardinia, a woman has learnt to sublimate her erotic longings caused by her husband's impotence, until a visitor offers a more immediate solution.
A claustrophobic banker fears the destruction of his relationship when he discovers a yawning hole beneath the streets of Stockholm.
The arrival of a gorgeous Russian piano prodigy inspires a screenwriter to look beyond his treadmill London existence.
And while fixing a leaking toilet in the wilds of Sweden, Ingmar Bergman explains the predicament of lovers in a hostile world.
Love Doesn't Work offers classic storytelling with profound, startling insights into human desire and its shortfalls. Inspired by the ancient Cathars, these seven tales present a vision of life as an inevitable struggle against ignorance, darkness and sexual confusion. Devilish and playful in tone, they leave the reader with a sense of outraged satisfaction and delight.

Palo Alto stories by James Franco

"I took another puff on the cigarette. It was a Camel. Some of the Mexicans called to me. They were carrying their soccer bags and water bottles to the end of the field. They were waving. I waved."

Review:

The author James Franco is mostly known for movies and being that guy who can just about do anything. Palo Alto, his debut short story collection, traces the lives of a group of teenagers as they experiment with adult vices. They struggle with their families and each other, and are alienated and unsure of themselves. The stories are all told in the first-person by an increasingly trying, monotone voice. There is no story for the characters to tell. Even if there were an underlining story here, it begs me to ask "why do we care?" And the short answer is, "We don't."

On the inside flap there are a few stories ("Lockheed", "American History" and "I Could Kill Someone") that are highlighted as being "stunning, stark, and disturbing", but Franco just tries too hard. I'm not sure why all the talk about penises, booze, smoking, sex, drugs, and a little bit of vagina are even necessary. If he is trying to push the envelope, he has missed the mark and in turn appears to have a vulgar, racist and misogynous voice in his writing, without the craft. Most of the stories were random and seemed to really go nowhere. It is hard to criticize such a talented artist, who I admire as a workaholic and have been entertained by for years. I really wanted to not just like, but love this book and in turn actually loathe it.

"It isn't Franco's fault, of course — just because he's a handsome young actor doesn't mean he can't write a book if he wants to."

Title: Palo Alto: Stories

Author: James Franco

Ten Micro Stories

Alex Epstein was born in Leningrad (St. Petersburg) in 1971 and moved to Israel when he was eight. He is the author of seven works of fiction in Hebrew, and in 2003 was awarded the Israeli Prime Minister’s Prize for Literature. His work has appeared in the Iowa Review, Words Without Borders, the Kenyon Review, and elsewhere. He lives in Tel Aviv. Blue Has No South and Lunar Savings Time, his recent collections of short-short stories, are available in English from Clockroot Books.

Jeff Kass

From Dzanc Books comes the debut collection from Jeff Kass, Knuckleheads.

The book is on its way to stores now, but is available immediately as an eBook from Dzanc's website and other normal retailers.

"With the vivid, lyrical qualities of Colson Whitehead's Sag Harbor, Knuckleheads is a high-octane protein shake, equal part heartbreak and hilarity, a thing of both sweat-reeking adrenalin and nostalgic, time-stopping beauty. For those who know Jeff Kass' gorilla-hearted poetry, this story collection is both a surprise and no surprise at all. Here we see his swing-for-the-fences skill with the line, but now it's prose and jeez, what can't this man do? Kass achieves what all fiction writers want--he makes us believe and makes us care. Even those of us who stayed as far away from the jocks as possible will want to cheer."--Steve Amick, The Lake, the River & the Other Lake, Nothing But a Smile

- Taken from Dzanc Books and EWN Newsletter

Stacey Levine

From Starcherone Books, Stacey Levine's The Girl With Brown Fur tales & stories has been shipping to stores across the country and is available as an eBook immediately as well, both from Dzanc's website and from the normal retailers.

In her new collection, the first since her PEN-West Award-winning My Horse and Other Stories, Stacey Levine gives us twenty-eight new, feral, untamable stories, in myriad modes, from laugh-out-loud funny, to Kafka-nightmarish, lyrical, elegiac, and philosophical. Rooted in the quotidian and often mundane details of everyday life, these stories turn our expectations upside down. Levine, the author of, most recently, the novelFrances Johnson, again shows why many consider her a genius of contemporary fiction.

-Taken from Dzanc Books and EWN Newsletter

Just another contest

Press Release

JASON OCKERT WINS 2010 DZANC SHORT STORY COLLECTION CONTEST February 16, 2011, Ann Arbor, MI--Dzanc Books is pleased to announce that Jason Ockert, Professor of English at Coastal Carolina University, is the winner of our short story collection contest. Ockert's manuscript, Neighbors of Nothing, was selected from nearly 300 submissions. This collection will be published in October 2013. Steve Gillis, Co-Founder and Publisher of Dzanc Books, notes: "Jason Ockert spins tales that synthesize all the best particles of great story telling. His collection is filled with mystery, poetry, pain and passion, fused throughout with humor and elements of what makes his every character completely human. There is also a strong sense of locale in Neighbors of Nothing, the feeling that we have all been here before. Though the settings are oddly off the map and out of this world, it is a world which brings great joy to read and we at Dzanc are honored to name Jason Ockert as the winner of our 2010 Short Story Collection Contest and look forward to publishing his masterful work." Jason's response upon hearing that his collection had been selected: "This is humbling news. What a privilege to see my collection added to Dzanc's fine publishing list." The short list of finalists also included collections from Matthew Derby, Rebecca Kanner, Evan Lavender-Smith, Ben Miller, August Tarrier, Anne Valente, Corinna Vallianatos, and Tom Whalen. ABOUT JASON OCKERT Jason Ockert has won several national fiction awards and is the author of the short story collection Rabbit Punches. His stories have appeared in many journals, including the OxfordAmerican, Witness, Ecotone, Indiana Review, Alaska Quarterly Review, Mid-American Review, McSweeney's, and The Iowa Review. His work is included in the anthologies New Stories from the South and Best American Mystery Stories. He teaches in the English Department at Coastal Carolina University.

Press Release

DZANC BOOKS TO PUBLISH GEORGE SINGLETON March 7, 2011 - Ann Arbor, MI-Dzanc Books is proud to announce that it will publish a collection of stories by George Singleton in fall 2013, entitled Stray Decorum. George Singleton has previously published four collections of stories (These People Are Us, the Half-Mammals of Dixie, Why Dogs Chase Cars, Drowning in Gruel), two novels (Novel, Work Shirts for Madmen), and a book on writing advice (Pep Talks, Warnings, and Screeds). His work has also appeared widely in magazines and anthologies, among them The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, Playboy, Zoetrope, Oxford American, Georgia Review, Kenyon Review, Southern Review, Epoch, Virginia Quarterly Review, Best American Food Writing and ten editions of New Stories from the South. George, currently a teacher of creative writing at the South Caroline Governor's School for the Arts and Humanities, has seen his work widely acclaimed. Recently he has seen work about his writing in Still in Print: The Southern Novel Today. Additionally, William Giraldi published "A Holy Impropriety: The Stories of George Singleton" in theGeorgia Review's Winter 2010 issue. George recently won the Hillsdale Award for Fiction from The Fellowship of Southern Writers. He lives in South Carolina and has done so since the age of seven minus a quick jaunt to graduate school. George is represented by Christina Ward of the Ward & Balkin Agency. "Having really enjoyed George's previous titles," Dan Wickett said, "we are thrilled at the opportunity to bring his latest collection of stories to the reading public. The addition of Stray Decorum to what we felt was an already strong 2013 catalogue, and to add somebody of George's stature to Dzanc's growing roster of extremely talented authors, is really exciting. His writing is one-of-a-kind and this collection will only continue to elevate his reputation as one of the funniest writers around."

"Asunder" is Robert's third book, and first short story collection

"Robert Lopez and his writing are original and pure, fearless and hypnotic. He is one of the brave protagonists of American literature." --Michael Kimball, author of Dear Everybody "For a great long while something was broken inside our language. Robert Lopez took what was broken and did something more than simply repair it. He repaired what was broken and broke it again and made it human. Beautiful and ugly and lastingly mortal, our language through Lopez becomes a kind of song. The kind of song we all might sing to bring some laughter from our deathbeds." --David McLendon, Editor of Unsaid