WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR FICTION 2015
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE FOR FICTION 2013
WINNER OF THE SUNDAY TIMES EFG SHORT STORY AWARD 2014
By the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction winner of THE ORPHAN MASTER'S SON - for fans of international literary fiction, especially Hanya Yanigahara, Jonathan Franzen and Anthony Doerr.
Adam Johnson takes you into the minds of characters you never thought you would meet – a former Stasi prison warden in denial of his past, a refugee from North Korea unsettled by his new freedom, a UPS driver in hurricane-torn Louisiana looking for the mother of his son.
These are tales of love and loss, natural disasters, the influence of technology, and how the political shapes the personal. Tender, wry, utterly compelling, they show us humanity where you might least expect it.
About the Author
Adam Johnson won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2013 for his second novel, the New York Times bestseller The Orphan Master’s Son (‘Excavates the very meaning of life’ New York Times). His short story 'Nirvana' (included here) won the Sunday Times/EFG Short Story Award in 2014. He is the author of acclaimed short stories Emporium and the novel Parasites Like Us. He teaches creative writing at Stanford University and lives with his family in San Francisco.
Industry Reviews
Ironic, witty, super-intelligent * The Times *
It is impossible not to be awed by these stories. Life, marriage, love, death, are all described here in the most amazingly unexpected ways; it seems at times that Adam, like the greatest of the great writers, has some kind of supernatural facility that allows him to see through to the pitch black core of things and to create a crystalline portrait of what he witnesses * DONAL RYAN, author of the bestselling THE SPINNING HEART *
Unputdownable is an overused word, but at their best these stories are completely gripping. * Sunday Times *
Johnson has a rare combination of inventiveness, intellectual pyrotechnics and emotional sophistication . . . These stories are treasures. * BBC *
Johnson packs more voice in his stories than most authors do in a novel * ESQUIRE.COM *
Masterful * The Washington Post *
...formidable, meaty tales that cling on and don't let go. * The Independent *
[Adam Johnson] is always perceptive and brave; his lines always sing and strut and sizzle and hush and wash and blaze over the reader. * The New York Times Book Review *
Adam Johnson . . . demonstrates again his boundless imagination, his ability to capture an entire personality in a few perfectly chosen details, and his gift for making foreign territory feel utterly familiar. Johnson is willing to go into real darkness and send a beacon back from the depths of tragedy, and his voice is as inevitable and fresh as anything being written today. * Matthew Thomas *
Entrancing. * O: The Oprah Magazine *
[Adam Johnson] serves up six sinewy stories that shock and surprise in his edgy, inviting Fortune Smiles . . . compulsively readable. * Elle *
[A] bold and deeply wise collection * BuzzFeed *
Startlingly, blazingly original. * BookPage *
[A] riveting collection of short stories ... darkly imagined, slightly surreal * San Jose Mercury News *
Exhilarating ... His mastery of setting simply wowed me. * THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE *
Marked by the conflicts of heart and mind, and the exuberant quality of its compassionate prose. * THE HUFFINGTON POST *
Compulsively readable ... Johnson serves up six sinewy stories that shock and surprise. * Elle Magazine *
A rare combination of inventiveness, intellectual pyrotechnics and emotional sophistication ... these stories are treasures. * BBC.Com *
Bittersweet, elegant, full of ward-won wisdom: this is no ordinary book either. * Publishers Weekly (starred and boxed review) *
Hefty and memorable ...the stories provide one of the truest satisfactions of reading: the opportunity to sing into worlds we otherwise know little or nothing about. * Starred Kirkus Review *
Terrific. Shows exactly why Johnson is rated as one of the hottest writers of his generation. * Mail on Sunday *
