Encounters with Unexpected Animals
Stories
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected Feb 24, 2026
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
An imaginative, moving collection of stories infused with the magic and enigma of the human condition and drenched in Texas heat, from the best-selling author of We Burn Daylight.
Encounters with Unexpected Animals takes readers deep into the heart of bestselling author Bret Anthony Johnston’s home state of Texas, where teenagers search for love, parents grasp at connections with their children, and animals—real or imagined, familiar or unexpected—are reminders of the mystery, danger, and beauty of being alive.
In “Caiman,” a father buys a baby alligator in hopes of keeping his family safe. In “Soldier of Fortune,” a teenage boy dog-sits for his neighbors after tragedy strikes, and his innocent snooping uncovers the family’s most guarded secret. And in the luminous “Half of What Atlee Rouse Knows About Horses,” an elderly man’s heart is laid bare with the raw and breathtaking power of wild horses.
Johnston’s humor, empathy, and mastery of prose ring out through each story, bringing every finely-drawn character to radiant life. Individually, the stories are by turns suspenseful, poignant and exhilarating. Taken together, they reveal the abiding connections that lead us from sorrow and impermanence back to ourselves and, ultimately, to each other.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The stories in this colorful collection from Johnston (We Burn Daylight) track their characters' coming of age in Texas. In "Paradeability," the unnamed narrator and his young son, Asher, travel from their home in Corpus Christi to a Houston clown convention two years after the death of the boy's mother. The narrator finds the convention bewildering, but Asher is excited to dress up as his hobo clown persona, Po' Boy. "The Beginning of Wisdom" follows the teen son of a Corpus Christi pawn broker who learns the ways of the world while working at his father's shop: "I sold stolen pistols to cops and widows and preachers. I listened to men lie about women and fishing, brawling and hunting." In "Soldier of Fortune," young Josh has a serious crush on the blithe Holly Hensley, who may be sleeping with a teacher. The gritty "Playing the Ghost" features a pool hustler named Jessie, who drifts around the Southwest from one motor court to the next and reflects on his Louisiana-born father's bayou lore ("A loose hog was someone under a spell. Or a sign an heir had died and the family didn't yet know"). Each entry portrays the complex lives of its characters with compassion, understanding, and incisive detail. These distinctive character-driven tales will linger in readers' minds.
