Synopses & Reviews
Here are stories about fathers and sons, stories about men and women, and stories about the relationships between men by one of our most gifted story writers. The narrator of "The Who, the What and the Why," begins breaking into his own house as a sort of therapy after his daughter dies. In "The Human Use of Inhuman Beings," the main character realizes that his closest relationship is to an angel, who appears to him only to announce the death of loved ones. reminds us why Lee K. Abbott is to be treasured: his perfect pitch for tales of hapless Southwesterners, his way with sympathetic irony, his eye that skillfully notes the awkward humiliations--common heartbreak, fractured families--and records it all in lyrical, affectionate language. In tales new and from previous collections Abbott examines lived life and the lies we necessarily tell about it.
Review
"This is Abbott at his best...a master at work." Booklist
Review
"From the very start, we're engaged by the entertainment and vitality of Abbott's prose, by its local color." New York Times Book Review
Review
"Abbott's stories are the stuff of everyday life wrought crisply and with clarity as visual as it is visceral." Baltimore Sun
Synopsis
Within this collection of short stories are tales about fathers and sons, men and women, and relationships between men. Abbott's perfect pitch for tales of hapless Southwesterners and his way with sympathetic irony records awkward humiliations in lyrical, affectionate language.
Synopsis
The long-awaited new collection from Lee K. Abbott, "Cheever's true heir, our major American short story writer" (William Harrison).
About the Author
Many of Lee K. Abbott's stories have been featured in The Best American Short Stories and have won O. Henry Awards. He lives in rural New Mexico and Columbus, Ohio.