A Perfect Universe
Ten Stories
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- $24.99
Publisher Description
Scott O’Connor’s novels have been hailed as “astonishing” (Library Journal), and “so insistently stirring, you want to lean in close to catch every word” (The New York Times Book Review). Now, from the author of Untouchable and Half World comes A Perfect Universe, a piercingly emotional cycle of stories in the tradition of Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad and Annie Proulx’s Close Range.
Welcome to the often-overlooked corners of sun-bleached Los Angeles, where a teenaged bicycle thief searches for a kidnapped boy, a young musician emerges as the lone survivor of a building collapse, and an aging actor faces the erasure of his past. There, far from the Hollywood spotlight, we also meet two sisters locked in a destructive cycle of memory and illness, coffee-shop regulars whose lives are torn apart by a stunning moment of violence, and the desperate, fraudulent writer whose fictions connect these unforgettable characters in subtle and surprising ways.
Sharply observed, exhilaratingly paced, and beautifully written, A Perfect Universe is a masterful exploration of growing up and growing old, loss and longing, identity and deception, and the search for redemption, humanity, and grace.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Ordinary Californians struggle to find meaning and connection in this malaise-filled story cycle from O'Connor (Half World). Whether struggling to get on The Price is Right ("Golden State"), worrying about some postbreakup weight gain ("Jane's Wife"), or just trying to get some morning coffee ("It Was Over So Quickly, Doug"), all of the characters are united by a grasping need for connection in a world dominated by material excess and consumerism. A troubled boy navigates a rocky relationship with a choleric father and struggles to make friends in "Soldiers." In "Colnago Super," a bike thief finds herself unexpectedly attached to the child she babysits, only to be left reeling when he disappears. Each fast-moving story presents a vivid sense of a California beyond the bright lights of Hollywood. The highlight of the collection, "Interstellar Space," is a deeply touching tale about a young woman who visits her sister in a psychiatric hospital, struggling to connect with her as she did when they were children. However, in the other stories, while the characters are fully formed and recognizable, endings tend to come abruptly and without purpose. Fans of Jennifer Egan will enjoy O'Connor's depiction of angst and ennui in capitalist California.
