Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
"N.M. Kelby writes beautifully. Her characters are unforgettable, and her use of oddball details adds to the particular flavor of the story, which has moments of melancholy and tenderness among the fireworks."
–The Capital Times
Synopsis
Landlocked mermaids and a twisted Camp Fire Girl troop who will do anything to sell the most P-Nuttles in history. A beautiful mother who will not give up her coyote fur or cat's-eye sunglasses, even in the worst of times. A rock idol who had always wanted to be buried in his 1953 Cadillac Eldorado convertible. These and many other characters grace the ten stories in this collection.
N.M.Kelby is the author of The Constant Art of Being a Writer, and several novels, including the best seller In the Company of Angels. She is working on the movie Whale Season with Dwight Yoakam.
Praise for A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts
"N. M. Kelby has long been one of my favorite writers, and her new story collection, A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts, is the sweet, pure, hilarious, sneakily profound essence of her. We ache and we laugh: this is the experience of reading N. M. Kelby just as it is the experience of living in the 21st century." --Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, and the novel, Hell
"This is a collection of love stories, each and every one of them true to what goes on between us when our hearts collide. Beautiful, sweet, and a little sad: love, exactly. N. M. Kelby knows a thing or two." --Daniel Wallace, author of four novels including Big Fish, which was also a film of the same name
"Kelby peeks into the hidden places of the heart, the sweet spot where love dwells." --Patti Callahan Henry, author of six novels, including Between the Tides
Synopsis
Ten sweet and slightly wicked stories by N. M. Kelby: whose work has appeared on National Public Radio's "Selected Shorts," on NP''s CD Travel Tales: and in New Stories from the South: The Year's Best.
Synopsis
A Travel Guide for Reckless Hearts is a collection of stories, rooted in the Midwest, for those of us who suddenly find ourselves displaced, tourists in our own lives.
Reminiscent of the work of Lorrie Moore and Jill McCorkle, this ten-story collection features the sweetly off-beat love story "Jubilation, FL," where two highly unlikeable people share dairy products, and "The Faithful," a funny yet tender story about a family torn apart by their beautiful mother Kitty, who will not give up her coyote fur or cat's-eye sunglasses for anything. We also meet landlocked mermaids and a twists Camp Fire Girl troupe who will do anything to sell the most P-Nuttles in history. The collection includes the riotous "The Last Rites," featuring Zimmer, a rock idol who "had always wanted to be buried in his 1953 Cadillac Eldorado convertible" and is not disappointed.
Kelby's stories have appeared on National Public Radio's "Selected Shorts," on NPR's CD Travel Tales, and in the prestigious New Stories from the South: Best of 2006.
Whimsical, surreal, touching, and often fiercely funny, this collection takes a clear-eyed look at what it means to be disconnected from our loved ones, our landscapes, and ultimately ourselves.
"Kelby is a natural-born storyteller who manages to be very funny and very wise at the same time."
--Carl Hiaason
"Black humor that sizzles."
--Kirkus Reviews
N.M. Kelby is the author of The Constant Art of Being a Writer and several novels, including the best seller In the Company of Angels, and is working on the movie Whale Season with Dwight Yoakam.