Thunderstruck & Other Stories

Thunderstruck & Other Stories

WINNER OF THE STORY PRIZE â€¢ LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD â€¢ NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NEWSDAY

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The Washington PostÂ â€¢Â San Francisco Chronicle â€¢ O: The Oprah Magazine â€¢ The Miami Herald â€¢ Publishers Weekly â€¢ Kirkus Reviews

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From the author of the beloved novel The Giantâ€™s Houseâ€”finalist for the National Book Awardâ€”comes a beautiful new story collection, her first in twenty years. Laced through with the humor, the empathy, and the rare and magical descriptive powers that have led Elizabeth McCrackenâ€™s fiction to be hailed as â€œexquisiteâ€ (The New York Times Book Review), â€œfunny and heartbreakingâ€ (The Boston Globe), and â€œa true marvelâ€ (San Francisco Chronicle), these nine vibrant stories navigate the fragile space between love and loneliness. In â€œProperty,â€ selected by Geraldine Brooks for The Best American Short Stories, a young scholar, grieving the sudden death of his wife, decides to refurbish the Maine rental house they were to share together by removing his landlordâ€™s possessions. In â€œPeter Elroy: A Documentary by Ian Casey,â€ the household of a successful filmmaker is visited years later by his famous first subject, whose trust he betrayed. In â€œThe Lost & Found Department of Greater Boston,â€ the manager of a grocery store becomes fixated on the famous case of a missing local woman, and on the fate of the teenage son she left behind. And in the unforgettable title story, a family makes a quixotic decision to flee to Paris for a summer, only to find their lives altered in an unimaginable way by their teenage daughterâ€™s risky behavior.
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In Elizabeth McCrackenâ€™s universe, heartache is always interwoven with strange, charmed moments of joyâ€”an unexpected conversation with small children, the gift of a parrot with a bad French accentâ€”that remind us of the wonder and mystery of being alive. Thunderstruck & Other Stories shows this inimitable writer working at the full height of her powers.
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Praise for Thunderstruck & Other Stories
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â€œRestorative, unforgettableÂ . . . aÂ powerful testament to the scratchy humor and warm intelligence of McCrackenâ€™s writing.â€â€”Sylvia Brownrigg, The New York Times Book Review (Editorâ€™s Choice)

â€œ[A] bewitching and wise collection . . . playful, even joyful.â€â€”O: The Oprah Magazine
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â€œStunningly beautiful . . . brilliantly moving . . . Moments of joy and pure magic flicker and pitch-perfect humor acts as a furtive SOS signal through the fog of loss.â€â€”Los Angeles Times

â€œEach of Thunderstruckâ€™s nine stories is a storm: delightful and destructive, packed with electricity, fascinating to watch unfold.â€â€”Salon
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â€œThe stories here are brilliant, funny and heartbreaking. . . . Elizabeth McCracken is a national treasure.â€â€”Paul Harding, The Wall Street Journal
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â€œPure delight: one lyrical, impeccably constructed sentence after another.â€â€”Chicago Tribune
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â€œBeautifully wrought . . . As painstaking as a watchmaker, McCracken disassembles life down to its smallest parts.â€â€”The Boston Globe

From the Trade Paperback edition.
Country USA
Manufacturer The Dial Press
Binding Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate 2014-04-22
Format Kindle eBook

Country	USA
Manufacturer	The Dial Press
Binding	Kindle Edition
ReleaseDate	2014-04-22
Format	Kindle eBook

Thunderstruck & Other Stories

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