A spellbinding collection of short stories from the Man Booker Prize shortlisted author of
History of Wolves.An uneasy, but exhilarating, expectation of trouble ahead is manifest in her sharp and exquisite prose
Emily Fridlund's language is generous and precise, her story grief-tempered and forcefully moving.
History of Wolves is the loneliest thing I've read in years, and
it's gorgeous.
These are haunted pagesSo
delicately calibrated and precisely beautiful that one might not immediately sense the sledgehammer of pain building inside this book. And I mean that in the best way. What
powerful tension and depthAs
exquisite a first novel as I've ever encountered. Poetic, complex and utterly,
heartbreakingly beautifulOne of the most intelligent and poetic novels of the year
Fridlund is a fine writer and her work is cut through with moments of sparse beauty
Eleven stories of misshapen families and broken friendships disturb and unsettle. Fridlund follows
History of Wolves, her marvelous and preternaturally accomplished first novel, with
a collection of jarring and polished short fiction.
Bracing, often brilliant stories deliver a shock to the routine narratives we tell
Eleven brilliant short stories showcase childhood, adolescence, marriage, and families, and how the appearances of these events and relationships in life can hide the strangeness and emptiness that pervade beneath the surface. . . . Fridlund unpacks these situations with such thoughtful diction and complex characters that her subdued and controlled language sets what is unsaid at the fore, unveiling hope, despair, and the paradoxes that are often ignored in such close relationships. Fridlund's intelligent and conversational voice impressively manipulates the emotional atmosphere of her stories
Fridlund's ability to conjure humor in the darkest moments is clear in her blending of sitcom
set-ups with bleak undercurrents. Her breathtaking prose and sly expressions make for compulsive
reading
Magical . . . Memorable and
a joy to readA powerhouse of a first story collection notable for its temerity and its skilled combination of humor and insight . . . this is - seriously - a
laugh-out-loud collection as wise as it is funny
This is a compelling, empathetic and funny look at 'asymmetrical' families, adolescence and ageing.
Emily Fridlund grew up in Minnesota. She holds an MFA from Washington University in St. Louis and a PhD in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of Southern California. Her collection of stories, CATAPULT, was chosen by Ben Marcus for the Mary McCarthy Prize. She lives in the Finger Lakes region of New York. HISTORY OF WOLVES is her first novel.