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99 Stories of God
99 Stories of God | Joy Williams
THE FIRST NEW BOOK IN A DECADE FROM THE ACCLAIMED AUTHOR OF "STATE OF GRACE," "ESCAPES," "TAKING CARE," AND "BREAKING AND ENTERING"Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist Joy Williams has a one-of-a-kind gift for capturing both the absurdity and the darkness of everyday life. In "99 Stories of God," she takes on one of mankind's most confounding preoccupations: the Supreme Being.This series of short, fictional vignettes explores our day-to-day interactions with an ever-elusive and arbitrary God. It's the Book of Common Prayer as seen through a looking glassa powerfully vivid collection of seemingly random life moments that is by turns comic and yearning and Kafkaesque. Kafka himself makes an appearance (talking to a fish), as do Tolstoy, the Aztecs, Abraham and Sarah, and O. J. Simpson. Most of Williams's characters, however, are like the rest of us: anonymous strivers and bumblers who brush up against God in the least expected places or go searching for Him when He's standing right there. The Lord shows up at a hot-dog-eating contest, a demolition derby, a formal gala, and a drugstore, where he's in line to get a shingles vaccination: "Have you ever had chicken pox?" asked the pharmacist. "Of course," the Lord said. "How did you hear about us?"Herself the daughter of a minister, Joy Williams instinctively understands one sure truth about God: He always gets the last laugh.PRAISE FOR 99 STORIES OF GOD"I would follow the trail of Joy Williams's wordsalways beautiful, compelling, and so wiseanywhere they led." Chuck Palahniuk, author of the bestselling "Choke," "Fight Club," and the Byliner Original "Phoenix""These modern fables and skewed vignettes make the implausible plausible. Compression, as done by Joy Williams, extends the reach of her stories. This masterful writer's unified vision in 99 parts is a vital primer for today's tuned-in adults." Amy Hempel, author of "At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom""Joy Williams's '99 Stories of God' reads like a blog-era bible as conceived by Borges, Barthelme, and Mark Twain. But the tone and import are all Williams's owna pitch-perfect, haunting/funny, insanely original and riveting assemblage of American koan and parable. No writer alive captures the voices in the post-millennial psychic wilderness like Joy Williams. Whether you write fiction or just love it, this is the book you have to read. "99 Stories of God" is a beautiful, moving, quietly hysterical masterpiece." Jerry Stahl, author of "Permanent Midnight""The word count of this slender, extraordinary collection belies the density and combustibility of its contents, their midnight hilarity and edgeless reach. Joy Williams is our feral philosopher. With alacrity and serenity, she dismantles the ordinary apparatus of a 'literary short story collection' and makes something entirely new: taut, ingeniously knotted tales that together form a braided lasso for truths that normally elude us." Karen Russell, Pulitzer Prize nominee for Swamplandia!"Like Kafkas Paradoxes and Parables, Joy Williamss 99 Stories of God adapt and retell some familiar tales, but they also invent new narratives that provide succor to animals, explore our dark side and turn God into our familiar. These stories are as full of surprises as a Noahs Ark filled with mystical beasts, three of each." Edmund White, author of A Boy's Own Story and The Farewell Symphony
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review
Suet624
99 Stories of God | Joy Williams
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Pickpick

This page is unlike any other page in this book. It is merely an example of a random thought/event in which God may or may not be involved. At first I thought none of it made any sense. As I progressed I was more and more delighted by her thought process. Pointing out situations in which God was equally confused by the game plan, offering tidbits on Kafka, Bonhoeffer, mystics, OJ Simpson‘s jury, it all worked for me. It is one to pick up again.

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merelybookish
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Pickpick

What an odd, provocative, unsettling little book. 99 stories, parables really, no more than a few pages long, some not more than a paragraph that grapple and play with what the Divine looks like today, an updated scripture for the 21st century. Choices, moral dilemmas, meaning, saints, sinners, God in action. These concise stories have it all, in ways that do and do not make sense. Williams is playful and adventurous, and writes a mean sentence.

merelybookish If you hate the story I included, don't read this book. If it intrigues you, then check it out! 🙂 5y
vivastory Color me intrigued! I laughed & then internally winced when I read it. 5y
batsy I see I already have this stacked. I love this! 5y
See All 23 Comments
TheBookAddict Intrigued! 5y
BarbaraBB It definitely intrigues and reminds me of Lydia Davis. 5y
merelybookish @vivastory I know! A lot of the stories are like that. Funny but then...not. Or vice versa. 5y
merelybookish @batsy Oh good! Read it! Then you can tell me what me what it means. 😛 5y
merelybookish @TheBookAddict Go for it! And then tell me what you think. 😉 5y
merelybookish @BarbaraBB I haven't read Davis but always mean to! I know Davis and Williams are both considered queens of the short story. 5y
youneverarrived Thank you for the card and bookmark 😘 the quote on it is quite apt for me. 5y
merelybookish @youneverarrived Oh my pleasure. Glad it landed right! 🙂 And sorry if I was preachy in my card. Just always want mothers to remember they are people too. 😉 5y
GingerAntics This sounds interesting. 5y
Billypar This sounds like a really interesting idea. I enjoyed another collection of hers: some of them are so strange but in a good way. 5y
youneverarrived Oh no you weren‘t at all! I appreciate it. I‘m definitely taking this time for me before baby arrives 💛 5y
Liz_M @BarbaraBB Good call on the LD comparison! 5y
Liz_M And add me to the intrigued people! 5y
readordierachel What an interesting passage! 5y
merelybookish @GingerAntics They are! And weird! 5y
merelybookish @Billypar Yes, strange in a good way! Well said. I want to read more of her work now. I'm curious what a longer short story by her might be like. (I assume she has some that are more than 3 pages.) 5y
merelybookish @Liz_M Time for me to read some Davis! 5y
merelybookish @readordierachel They are all like this, puzzling but charming, some with more narrative or a stronger character, but yeah... definitely interesting! 5y
Billypar @merelybookish I don't remember any stories from Visiting Privilege being unusually short, so it would be a good comparison! 5y
GingerAntics I‘ve added it to my wish list in Apple Books. 5y
77 likes4 stack adds23 comments
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merelybookish
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Happy kitty to have us home. (He claimed my new Xmas blanket immediately.) Happy to be home, too. Last night, we got stranded in Wyoming when they closed the highway because of high winds and blowing snow. So that was fun. 😑
But started the tagged book (pulled it off the shelf!) and it's kind of weird and wonderful.

vivastory I'm glad you made it home safely! 5y
Texreader ❤️😻 Good to hear you are home safe and sound after that “adventure!” 5y
Leftcoastzen 😻 5y
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robinb Happy you‘re safe and sound! 💕 5y
Crazeedi Glad to hear you're home safely, kitties always love us to come home! 5y
batsy Glad you made it back safe and sound! 5y
Cathythoughts There‘s no place like home ❤️ 5y
TheLudicReader Your kitty looks like my kitty! 5y
merelybookish @vivastory @Texreader @Crazeedi @batsy @robinb Thanks everyone! Just the realities of winter travel. We were fine (hotel close by) except for screwing up some plans. 5y
merelybookish @Leftcoastzen He is pretty cute! 5y
merelybookish @TheLudicReader You must have a very pretty kitty! 5y
TheLudicReader @merelybookish she is purr-fect 5y
readordierachel Glad you're back home safe with your kitty! 5y
merelybookish @readordierachel Thanks! It wasn't that bad (could have been so much worse). 5y
Suet624 What a beautiful photo and I‘m happy you‘re home safe and sound. 5y
TheBookAddict Glad you got home safe. It‘s always wonderful to get home to a welcoming and loving kitty. 5y
79 likes18 comments
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Flaneurette
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She lived in soiled pajamas, collected rocks and drank staggeringly inventive gin concoctions all day long

Flaneurette Life goals 😏 8y
25 likes1 comment
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Flaneurette
99 Stories of God | Joy Williams
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Random #libraryhaul and lime lacroix

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SarahK
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Pickpick

I absolutely love this collection of stories. I feel like some need to be reread and meditated on. Amazing.

Hooked_on_books 🐶💙 8y
16 likes1 comment
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Simona
99 Stories of God | Joy Williams
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My last reading statistics for this year, it was nice reading month, I can't complain - it was very good reading year, but humans, we are creatures of hope and of course I hope, that next year will be even better. I wish you the same and see you in the next year 😘

Reviewsbylola Great month! 8y
mhillis Happy New Year 🥂 8y
kspenmoll Congrats & Happy New Year! 👏🎉 8y
Gissy Thank you! 📚😍🎉🎉 8y
72 likes4 comments
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Simona
99 Stories of God | Joy Williams
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Pickpick

Short fiction vignettes from an everyday reality. They're not sweet stories about God, they are unusual, strange, intriguing and thought provoking. I didn't understand all of them, but I smiled while I was reading them. Definitely not for everyone, but if you close to the concept of absurdity you'll be impressed.

#seasonsreadings2016 #bestofdecember

Suet624 Spent some time studying Neil Douglas-Klotz's interpretations of the Aramaic sayings. At the time they were life changing for me. 8y
Simona @Suet624 Wow, impressing! 8y
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DocBrown
Pickpick

Hmm. And now for something completely different. Kind of like Lucia Berlin on meth. The best part of these story scraps was the fact that she wrote about real people and places. I love that.

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Kenny
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#BestBooks2016

Here are as many of my Favorite Books of 2016 I could fit in one Litsy-sized picture. Read them all and then let's start a really amazing book club?

Use the #BestBooks2016 hashtag and tell us all your favorite books of the year.

dairine Almost picked up The Vegetarian at the library the other day... 8y
59 likes1 comment
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Liberty
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I have been saving this for when I felt I really needed it. And I think that time is tonight. 📚💗🤘🏻

Suet624 That's been sitting by my bed. I just haven't picked it up. But I want to. Just not quite yet. 8y
RealBooks4ever LOVE the cover, disappointed in the stories... 8y
wordsworthsprite Want to know how this is.. 8y
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Kenny
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My Favorite Books of 2016

No. 1: 99 Stories of God by Joy Williams. Call them stories, microfictions, poems—I don't care. I call them Everything I Love.

Suet624 Ooohhhh, it's beside my bed but unread. Gotta do it!!! 8y
40 likes5 stack adds1 comment
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brennareadsbooks
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Tin_House
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Thrilled to see NINETY-NINE STORIES OF GOD listed as one of Publishers Weekly's ten Best Books of 2016!

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jveezer

There are certain times where it does not matter if you hear the word yes or the word no in answer to your question, whether you turn left or right, you will reach your destination. Not many but some. --89 Phew

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jveezer
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In one of my happy places...doing one of my happy things: reading

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jveezer
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Beginning this little gem of a book that was a gift in the latest Powell's Books Indiespensable subscription box.

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Clarkknowles
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Just last week I said I wasn't buying more books. And then I bought more books. I need to quit my job for reading purposes.

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Kenny
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Litsy wants to know our favorite bookstores. Obviously it's heartbreaking to choose just one and I know I am completely biased, but how could I choose anyone other than King's Books in Tacoma, WA? Two cats, so many books, and they pay me to be there. It's HEAVEN. #getindie

PS. You'll notice Herbert and I have the same taste in books. We both LOVE Joy Williams.

thecurioushedgehog Waterstones ❤️ 8y
Hollie Sounds amazing, I may have to visit someday. Im completely bookstore-less in the middle of KS :( 8y
63 likes3 stack adds2 comments
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Lacythebookworm
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Books I finished* over #biblioweekend! *was almost finished with a couple, including Middlemarch before the weekend. #bibliogiveaway

Well-ReadNeck And a nice color scheme, to boot!! 8y
Lacythebookworm @Well-ReadNeck thank you! Totally unintentional! 8y
68 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Misanthropester

There's a massive flood in my Litsy timeline for this book. I have to wonder how this book won't be just 'Meh.'

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Misanthropester

There's a massive flood in my Litsy timeline for this book. I have to wonder how this book won't be just 'Meh.'

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Misanthropester
99 Stories of God | Joy Williams

There's a massive flood in my Litsy timeline for this book. I have to wonder how this book won't be just 'Meh.'

2 likes1 stack add
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autumnprivett
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Has anyone read this yet? I'm trying to decide if I want to buy it. Flipped through it at the bookstore and it looked like an interesting format.

tpixie No, haven't read it. Go for it! 8y
AThousandLives87 I've read it! It's good! Get it! 8y
elkeOriginal That cover illustration is fantastic! 8y
41 likes1 stack add3 comments
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JessReads
99 Stories of God | Joy Williams
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This book is taking me by surprise.

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Tin_House
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In this week's New Yorker, James Wood celebrated Joy Williams's NINETY-NINE STORIES OF GOD. He praised her "refractory brilliance," calling her fiction "easy to follow but hard to fathom." And he grappled for all to see with the glorious mysteries of her work.

So happy to see Joy Williams getting the admiration and wonder she deserves! Rejoicing in the house of tin!

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Titania
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In the mail yesterday. 99 little gems.

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Lacythebookworm
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Any other fans of super short stories? Who are your go-to authors? (On the left is a peek at the endpapers! 🐺😊)

Megabooks This book is great and full of mostly 2-5 page stories although some are longer but not much. 8y
Lacythebookworm @Ebooksandcooks On my TBR! 👍 8y
NovelGirl82 I love short stories!! King's last book of short stories was great, and I adore Kelly Link! This is my favorite of hers! 8y
Lacythebookworm @NovelGirl82 I've been meaning to read Link! Thanks for the recommendation! 8y
48 likes1 stack add4 comments
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Jdscott50
Mehso-so

Short one sentence to one-page stories that refer obliquely to God. Mostly mocking and incomplete, the passages often fall flat. One could compare it to On a Winter's Night a Traveler, but not as clever. It also reminds me of the book 420 which was a series of stories set to the character limit of a Facebook post. The stories are very flat and obtuse. There are some stories that shine, but not enough to make up for the ones that do not.

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sumichi
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Vignettes of everyday life. Not as religious as the title suggests, which is fine by me.

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brennareadsbooks
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Strange, beautiful, thoughtful.

25 likes1 stack add
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Amyegia
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Fine old oak uncomfortable pews.

15 likes1 stack add
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Amyegia
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So now that I have a baby, I'm a little sleep-deprived. This book's short pieces are perfect, like little chocolates, and they're keeping me going.

MrBook Love the way you articulated your book 😊👍🏻👏🏻. 8y
readinginthedark Four and a half years in, and I still have to read that way! Good luck! 8y
19 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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Jdscott50
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“Penny found them irritating in any number of ways—they were ostentatious, full of self-regard, and cheap. They also did not read. But she knew herself well enough to know that they irritated her because they had found happiness in a simple place where she had not.” P 54

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tkmadden
99 Stories of God | Joy Williams
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Thank you, thank you @Tin_House for making my dreams come true with this package!

Kenny Obsessed with that book. My favorite book of the year. 8y
Liberty I got that today, too! 🤘🏻 8y
MrBook On my list now. 8y
41 likes10 stack adds3 comments
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NerdyRev
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Pickpick

Continuing my @Tin_House rabbit hole-how to describe this- poetic prose, maybe. Stories are only a paragraph, a page, or 2, yet say a lot in a few words. God can be there, but often the absence is more prominent. One Amazon review had me laughing. Very quick read, but deep at times.

NerdyRev The review that had me laughing by "momof8"-"This book is terrible! The title is completely misleading. It is a series of very brief stories that are random, and not about God or faith. This is the worst book that I have read in years." Oops. #tinhouse 8y
BookishFeminist Tin House is such an amazing publisher—I love their stuff! 8y
14 likes2 comments
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NerdyRev
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Ninety-Nine Stories of God by Joy Williams (story 10) @Tin_House

http://amzn.to/29Cd2gb

Titania So want to read this! 8y
12 likes1 comment
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Tin_House
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Happy pub week to Joy Williams! Joy and her Tin House Summer Workshop group are celebrating her new collection, NINETY-NINE STORIES OF GOD, with some candid reading.

Sydsavvy Great pic! Congrats!!👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 8y
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Kenny
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Joy Williams on the Fourth of July

Kenny PS. This is my favorite book of 2016 (so far). 8y
43 likes9 stack adds1 comment
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veracollective
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Rainy day reading. #joywilliams Thanks @tin_house and @aliasjake for the galley!

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Kenny
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Joy Williams on Reincarnation.

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Tyler
99 Stories of God | Joy Williams
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My Friday read

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Kenny
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Joy Williams on writing short stories. (8 of 9.)

Kenny PS. I am obsessed with the short stories in this book. It will land on my Best of 2016 list, for sure. 9y
jeff Love this. 9y
Kenny The 9th point is really great too. I'll send it to you on OOP's Twitter. 9y
RickMoody So great. 9y
30 likes6 stack adds4 comments
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Kenny
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I wish I could even begin to explain how good these ninety-nine stories are. Some are tiny like this one and still hit hard and some are longer but never long. There is grace and intelligence and surprise all over the place. Joy Williams is a master.

Kenny I am not someone who would say he likes short stories. These are short stories, sure, but they're also something else. These are poems. These are the only right way to tell these stories. Joy Williams is one of our best writers. 9y
Orbeck33 Your review convinced me! 9y
Will God, so good. 9y
15 likes6 stack adds3 comments