In CALAMITY AND OTHER STORIES, Daphne Kalotay portrays with affection and forthrightness the comedy and complexity of human relationships. Characters introduced in one story reappear in others, at times frustrated by regrets and unrealized hopes, and at others embracing the small joys and odd epiphanies life offers.
Just when she is feeling stronger, happier, and more independent than ever, a woman encounters her ex-husband and ends up in bed with him. A little girl gets an unsettling yet exhilarating glimpse of adulthood when she catches her mother in a moment of uninhibited pleasure. For a thirteen-year-old boy, his father’s giddy new romance and his mother’s decline into depression subtly alter his interactions with girls his age. And for two older women, a tie formed long ago sustains them through the difficult twists of fate that shape their very different lives. In each of these spare and deftly crafted stories, Kalotay lays bare a profound truth about the secrets of the heart.
With this stunning debut, Kalotay follows in the footsteps of other writers–including Ethan Canin, ZZ Packer, Adam Haslett, and Jhumpa Lahiri–who burst upon the literary scene with story collections lauded by critics and eagerly snatched up by readers. Beautifully written, moving, and funny, CALAMITY AND OTHER STORIES showcases a writer poised to become our next literary star.

"Kalotay's delicately graceful debut offers what many story collections do not: the chance to discover what becomes of its many characters. While some never resurface, like the heartbreaking Sergei, a Russian immigrant permanently scarred by a past mugging in 'Sunshine Cleaners,' or Cole Curtin, the down-and-out piano teacher hopelessly in love with his young students' mothers in 'Serenade,' others reappear throughout Kalotay's 12 interconnected tales. Geoff, a 13-year-old boy struggling with puberty, his parents' divorce and his mother's consequent depression in 'All Life's Grandeur,' is later found hungover in the backseat of a stranger's car, obsessing over love and bracing himself for his childhood best friend's marriage. Annie, a young and confident divorce in 'A Brand New You,' attends the same wedding, now an eccentric, insightful old woman. Capturing her characters at different stages in their lives, Kalotay artfully crafts her book around their metamorphoses, both big and small. Her greatest achievements are 'The Man from Allston Electric' and the title story, in which Rhea, the true star of the book, finds fleeting sanctuary with a repairman and divulges her deepest secret to a complete stranger. Contrary to the high-drama intensity suggested by the collection's title, each of Kalotay's stories is unwaveringly sparse and deceptively simple, focusing on the power of the ordinary rather than the energy of action. Agent, Leigh Feldman. (On sale Jan. 18)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information, Inc.)

“I have been reading and admiring Daphne Kalotay’s stories for a decade. They are old-fashioned in the best sense of the word, plainspoken and melancholy, about ordinary people struggling with the trials of ordinary life.“ —Jhumpa Lahiri, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Interpreter of Maladies and The Namesake

“Kalotay’s collection builds force so quietly that when all the characters appear together in the final story you’re stunned—by how well it works and by how familiar these women now feel.”Maggie Galehouse, The New York Times Book Review

Twelve stories introducing a remarkable new writer...

In Calamity and Other Stories, Daphne Kalotay portrays with affection and frankness the complexity and comedy of human relationships. From a newly independent woman finding herself in bed with her husband of long ago to a thirteen-year-old boy irked by his friendship with a younger girl, Kalotay’s characters step poignantly into and out of each other’s worlds, at times frustrated by regrets and unrealized hopes and at other times embracing life’s small joys and absurdities.

Every Monday the man in Sunshine Cleaners awaits the one customer who acknowledges his existence, though all she offers are complaints. A little girl gets a surprising glimpse of adulthood when she catches her mother in a moment of uninhibited pleasure. And for two older women, a tie formed long ago sustains them through defining twists of fate. In each of these luminous stories, Kalotay lays bare a profound truth about the secrets of the heart.

Exquisitely crafted, moving, and funny, Calamity and Other Stories showcases a writer finding wonder in ordinary lives.

DAPHNE KALOTAY lives and writes in Brookline, Massachusetts.