Thunderstruck & Other Stories

WINNER OF THE STORY PRIZE € LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD € NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NEWSDAY

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The Washington Post € San Francisco Chronicle € O: The Oprah Magazine € The Miami Herald € Publishers Weekly € Kirkus Reviews

From the author of the beloved novel The Giant€s House€"finalist for the National Book Award€"comes a beautiful new story collection, her first in twenty years. Laced through with the humor, the empathy, and the rare and magical descriptive powers that have led Elizabeth McCracken€s fiction to be hailed as €œexquisite€ (The New York Times Book Review), €œfunny and heartbreaking€ (The Boston Globe), and €œa true marvel€ (San Francisco Chronicle), these nine vibrant stories navigate the fragile space between love and loneliness. In €œProperty,€ selected by Geraldine Brooks for The Best American Short Stories, a young scholar, grieving the sudden death of his wife, decides to refurbish the Maine rental house they were to share together by removing his landlord€s possessions. In €œPeter Elroy: A Documentary by Ian Casey,€ the household of a successful filmmaker is visited years later by his famous first subject, whose trust he betrayed. In €œThe Lost & Found Department of Greater Boston,€ the manager of a grocery store becomes fixated on the famous case of a missing local woman, and on the fate of the teenage son she left behind. And in the unforgettable title story, a family makes a quixotic decision to flee to Paris for a summer, only to find their lives altered in an unimaginable way by their teenage daughter€s risky behavior.
 
In Elizabeth McCracken€s universe, heartache is always interwoven with strange, charmed moments of joy€"an unexpected conversation with small children, the gift of a parrot with a bad French accent€"that remind us of the wonder and mystery of being alive. Thunderstruck & Other Stories shows this inimitable writer working at the full height of her powers.
 
Praise for Thunderstruck & Other Stories
 
€œRestorative, unforgettable . . . a powerful testament to the scratchy humor and warm intelligence of McCracken€s writing.€€"Sylvia Brownrigg, The New York Times Book Review (Editor€s Choice)

€œ[A] bewitching and wise collection . . . playful, even joyful.€€"O: The Oprah Magazine
 
€œStunningly beautiful . . . brilliantly moving . . . Moments of joy and pure magic flicker and pitch-perfect humor acts as a furtive SOS signal through the fog of loss.€€"Los Angeles Times

€œEach of Thunderstruck€s nine stories is a storm: delightful and destructive, packed with electricity, fascinating to watch unfold.€€"Salon
 
€œThe stories here are brilliant, funny and heartbreaking. . . . Elizabeth McCracken is a national treasure.€€"Paul Harding, The Wall Street Journal
 
€œPure delight: one lyrical, impeccably constructed sentence after another.€€"Chicago Tribune
 
€œBeautifully wrought . . . As painstaking as a watchmaker, McCracken disassembles life down to its smallest parts.€€"The Boston Globe
 
€œThe psychological punches McCracken delivers, with her keen sense of irony and mordant humor, are unforgettable.€€"The Miami Herald