"A new collection of stories by one of America's most beloved and admired short-story writers, her first in fifteen years, since Birds of America ("Fluid, cracked, mordant, colloquial. Will stand by itself as one of our funniest, most telling anatomies of human love and vulnerability." --The New York Times Book Review, cover). These eight masterly stories reveal Lorrie Moore at her most mature and in a perfect configuration of craft, mind, and bewitched...

"A glimmering collection of new short fiction from the Booker Prize winner and national bestselling author of How It All Began In such acclaimed novels as The Photograph, Family Album, and How It All Began, Penelope Lively has captivated readers with her singular blend of wisdom, elegance, and humor. Now, in her first story collection in decades, Lively takes up themes of history, family, and relationships across varied and vividly rendered settings....

-- “I really loved all the characters in this book. They’re so complex and interesting, and in every story, you’ll find them going through these pivotal moments in their lives.”—Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club Pick) -- The Washington Post With moving insight and uncanny precision, Curtis Sittenfeld pinpoints the questionable decisions, missed connections, and sometimes extraordinary coincidences that make up a life. Indeed, she writes...

"From one of Britain's most accomplished, acclaimed, and garlanded writers, Hilary Mantel delivers a brilliant collection of contemporary short stories that demonstrate what modern England has becomeIn The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher, Hilary Mantel's trademark gifts of penetrating characterization, unsparing eye, and rascally intelligence are once again fully on display.Her classic wicked humor in each story--which range from a ghost story...

"A new collection of stories by American master Joyce Carol Oates, mysterious and surreal, and perfectly pitched for the confusion of the current political landscape"--

First published in 1919, "On The Makaloa Mat" is a fantastic collection of seven short stories by Jack London. The tales come together to create an illuminating sketch of life on the idyllic Hawaiian Islands, as well as the effect that contact with Western civilization had on its inhabitants and culture. The stories include: "On the Makaloa Mat", "The Bones of Kahekili", "When Alice Told Her Soul", "Shin-bones", "The Water Baby", "The Tears of Ah...

Margaret Atwood has established herself as a beloved cultural icon and one of the most visionary and canonical authors of her generation. In this collection comprised of fifteen extraordinary stories-some of which have appeared in The New Yorker and The New York Times Magazine-Atwood speaks to our times with her characteristic wit and intellect. Of special significance are the seven works revolving around the long-term married couple Tig and Nell....

Here are nine men. Each of them is at a different stage in life, each of them is away from home, and each of them is striving - in the suburbs of Prague, in an over-developed Alpine village, beside a Belgian motorway, in a crap Cypriot hotel - to understand just what it means to be alive, here and now. Vibrating with detail and intelligence, pathos and surprise, All That Man Is is a portrait of contemporary manhood, contemporary Europe and contemporary...

A man flying first class discovers a puma in the lavatory. A new coach of a small-town Oklahoma high school football team installs an offense comprised of only one, very special, play. A man explains to the police why he told the employee of his local bodega that his colleague looked like the lead singer of Depeche Mode, a statement that may or may not have led in some way to a violent crime. A college professor discusses with his friend his difficulties...

-- New York Times -- Florida is a magnificent achievement.