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Jon Steele: IMG Hello, I Must Be Going

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There's a bench in Cully, Switzerland. It's in a little park tucked up against the shore of Lake Geneva. I go there a lot to just sit and think, or... Continue »
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eBook editions

Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day

by Ben Loory

Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day Cover

 

Awards

Staff Top 5s 2011 2011 Powell's Staff Top 5s
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Review-A-Day

"In Ben Loory's wild, dreamy debut collection of short stories, he explores the deepest recesses of the imagination, where even the most outlandish tales can yield profound insights.

Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day contains 40 featherweight fables, with a diverse cast of characters that includes erudite octopi, menacing hats, and lovestruck ducks. To say that disbelief must be suspended to appreciate Loory's work would be an understatement; utter credulity is required. His stories have the maundering, free-associative quality of dreams, and follow their own peculiar logic." Michael Patrick Brady, The Boston Globe (Read the entire Boston Globe review)

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

"If Mother Goose and Philip K. Dick had a love child, and Richard Brautigan raised him in Watermelon Sugar, he might write stories like Ben Loory." -Jonathan Evison

Loory's collection of wry and witty, dark and perilous contemporary fables is populated by people-and monsters and trees and jocular octopi-who are united by twin motivations: fear and desire. In his singular universe, televisions talk (and sometimes sing), animals live in small apartments where their nephews visit from the sea, and men and women and boys and girls fall down wells and fly through space and find love on Ferris wheels. In a voice full of fable, myth, and dream, Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day draws us into a world of delightfully wicked recognitions, and introduces us to a writer of uncommon talent and imagination.

Review:

"The 40 cheerfully ominous stories in this collection feel like collaborations between Tex Avery and Franz Kafka. Each starts with a surreal premise — a man notices a strange hat staring at him, a duck falls in love with a rock, etc. — and sidles along from there. By itself, each sketch is tantalizingly incomplete, but that uneasy wonder is part of Loory's purpose. When these pieces work, as they often do, they invite readers to develop the idea themselves, to use their own imaginations to flesh out characterizations and consequences. Reading several stories in a row might mitigate some of the individual impact, but together they provide a series of glimpses into a world in which all manner of disturbing discoveries and transformations are possible. (Aug.)" Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
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About the Author

Ben Loory's stories have appeared in publications as diverse as The New Yorker, ESPN the Magazine, Glimmer Train, and World Riot. He lives in Los Angeles.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780143119500
Author:
Loory, Ben
Publisher:
Penguin (Non-Classics)
Subject:
Stories (single author)
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Publication Date:
20110726
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
224
Dimensions:
7.79 x 5.08 x 0.63 in 0.47 lb
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Related Subjects

Featured Titles » General
Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z
Languages » Foreign Languages » Spanish » Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z

Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day Used Trade Paper
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$9.95 In Stock
Product details 224 pages Penguin (Non-Classics) - English 9780143119500 Reviews:
"Publishers Weekly Review" by , "The 40 cheerfully ominous stories in this collection feel like collaborations between Tex Avery and Franz Kafka. Each starts with a surreal premise — a man notices a strange hat staring at him, a duck falls in love with a rock, etc. — and sidles along from there. By itself, each sketch is tantalizingly incomplete, but that uneasy wonder is part of Loory's purpose. When these pieces work, as they often do, they invite readers to develop the idea themselves, to use their own imaginations to flesh out characterizations and consequences. Reading several stories in a row might mitigate some of the individual impact, but together they provide a series of glimpses into a world in which all manner of disturbing discoveries and transformations are possible. (Aug.)" Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
"Review A Day" by , "In Ben Loory's wild, dreamy debut collection of short stories, he explores the deepest recesses of the imagination, where even the most outlandish tales can yield profound insights.

Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day contains 40 featherweight fables, with a diverse cast of characters that includes erudite octopi, menacing hats, and lovestruck ducks. To say that disbelief must be suspended to appreciate Loory's work would be an understatement; utter credulity is required. His stories have the maundering, free-associative quality of dreams, and follow their own peculiar logic." (Read the entire Boston Globe review)
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