The Surprising Place: Stories (Juniper Prize for Fiction) - Softcover

McCollum, Malinda

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1625343485 ISBN 13: 9781625343482

Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press, 2018

Synopsis

"McCollum's writing is edgy, energetic, often funny." ―New York Times Book Review
"The Surprising Place is hands-down the most arresting and incisive story collection I've read in years." ―Doug Dorst, author of S. and Alive in Necropolis
A synchronized swimming coach pops pills during practice, a bagpiper cold-cocks a hawk, and an orphan puts her fist through a window and discovers, in the engine noise of a jet passing overhead, the perfect witness to her inner pain. In this debut collection from prizewinning writer Malinda McCollum, people adrift in the American Midwest struggle to find their way in the world, with few signposts for guidance.

About this title

About the Author:

Malinda McCollum, a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, the Plimpton Prize for Fiction, and a Stegner Fellowship in Creative Writing. Her short stories have appeared in The Paris Review, ZYZZYVA, McSweeney's, and Epoch, among other publications. McCollum currently teaches writing at the College of Charleston.

Review:

"Oracular in vision, harrowing by nature, these gripping stories survey the bleak status of the American heartland: scoured by drugs, hollowed of hope, yet somehow still brimming with humanity. . . Engrossing and enthralling, these are stories that make you crack the spine."―Adam Johnson, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Orphan Master's Son and National Book Award and Story Prize winner Fortune Smiles

"Malinda McCollum's stories are cut from the hardest stuff, each one a perfect sharp-edged prism flashing insights from its depths . . . Everyone must read this daring and inimitable book."―Julie Orringer, author of The Invisible Bridge

"The Surprising Place is a daring and harrowing triumph that establishes Malinda McCollum as one of our finest short story writers. I am in awe of her talent and grace." ―Amber Dermont, New York Times bestselling author of The Starboard Sea

"Malinda McCollum's short stories work like small bombs in the consciousness. She understands American optimism enough to turn it on its head, creating scenes with darkness enough to make Eudora Welty and Flannery O'Connor proud." ―Edie Meidav, author of Kingdom of the Young

"Malinda McCollum does sinister like no one since Robert Stone. Her stories . . . are populated with hopeless and hapless characters who are both compelling and surprisingly lovable. The Surprising Place will leave you stunned." ―Mark Jude Poirier, author of Goats and Modern Ranch Living

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1625343485
• ISBN 13: 9781625343482
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 212