Synopses & Reviews
"Ben Loory’s stories are little gifts, strange and moving and wonderfully human. I devoured this book in one sitting." — Ransom Riggs, author of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children
A dazzling new collection of stories from the critically acclaimed author of Stories for Nighttime and Some for The Day.
Ben Loory returns with a second collection of timeless tales, inviting us to enter his worlds of whimsical fantasy, deep empathy, and playful humor, in the signature voice that drew readers to his highly praised first collection. In stories that eschew literary realism, Loory’s characters demonstrate richly imagined and surprising perspectives, whether they be dragons or swordsmen, star-crossed lovers or long-lost twins, restaurateurs dreaming of Paris or cephalopods fixated on space travel. In propulsive language that brilliantly showcases Loory’s vast imagination, Tales of Falling and Flying expands our understanding of how fiction can work and is sure to cement his reputation as one of the most innovative short-story writers working today.
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"Ben Loory’s stories are like perfect kōans cracked from inside the world’s smartest fortune cookie; funny, crunchy, and irresistible." Mark Haskell Smith, author of Naked at Lunch
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"Parables, dark fables, quirky flash fictions — call them what you will, Ben Loory has perfected the form and in Tales of Falling and Flying proves once again he can disturb a little and entertain a lot. Easily read, not easily forgotten." Jeff VanderMeer, author of The Southern Reach Trilogy
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"These tiny off-kilter fairy tales, equal parts Beckett and Twilight Zone, will amply suit surrealistic seniors and twisted teens alike. Perfect for reading on strange beaches and by oddly-shaped swimming pools. Fits right in your pocket or purse for emergency doses of the charming and weird." Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander
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"Ben Loory is a wonder. I’d like to curl up inside his marvelous head and canoodle with a besotted squid, swallow a tiny dragon, levitate with Death, and fall in love with the Eiffel Tower, and after reading these sublime stories — slyly funny, melancholy, and deeply weird — I suppose I have, and it was fantastic." Elissa Schappell, author of Blueprints for Building Better Girls
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"Russell Edson’s new protégé, or Steven Millhauser, distilled into tea. Meet, or re-meet, Ben Loory, whose preposterous, friendly stories can’t help but charm. They are so bizarrely readable they don’t even feel like they’re made of words." Aimee Bender, author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
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"Life and death are treated with equal gravity and levity in this nimble, refreshing collection of shorts from Loory. Each of these stories is a deceptively small bite, its depth of flavor often growing and lingering.... The book engages both the profound and the frivolous. Reality flirts with and sometimes gives way to the bizarre, the economy and style of language making a man with disappearing body parts ('Missing') and a sloth seeking work in the city ('The Sloth') equally vivid." Publishers Weekly
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"Exquisitely crafted fables.... A perfect follow-up to his starred debut.... Sometimes there’s anthropomorphism in stories that recall David Sedaris’ Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk.... He hits just the right beat at the right moment.... Delightfully disarming stories for readers seeking a plunge down the rabbit hole." Kirkus (Starred Review)
About the Author
Ben Loory is the author of the collection Stories for Nighttime and Some for the Day, and a picture book for children, The Baseball Player and the Walrus. His fables and tales have appeared in The New Yorker and on This American Life and Selected Shorts. He lives in Los Angeles, California, where he is an instructor for the UCLA Extension Writers’ Program.