Collected Stories
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3.0 • 1 Rating
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
“Shiner doesn’t work through dazzle, diversion, or sleight of hand. His prose is a model of clarity. When you come to the end of a story, you know what happened; you know how Shiner feels about it. The power seldom arises in trick and technique, but is located instead in voice and conviction. He is not the sort of writer who keeps an ironic distance. His work is more the heartfelt sort… The emotional world of these stories feels very like the real world to me.”
—from the introduction by Karen Joy Fowler
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Containing 41 stories and extensive author’s notes, Collected Stories is the definitive compilation of Shiner’s short work. His best known stories are all here, including “The War at Home,” “Twilight Time,” “The Circle,” “Perfidia,” and “Mozart in Mirrorshades,” as well as a brand new story, “The Death of Che Guevara.”
The limited edition will be accompanied by Widows and Orphans, a chapbook of stories not in the main volume, including: “Deserted Cities of the Heart,” (short story version), “How I Won the War on Drugs,” (with Bruce Sterling) “The Shoemaker’s Tale,” “Like the Gentle Rain,” and “You Never Know.”
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
These 41 powerful stories cover Shiner's career across three decades and multiple genres, showcasing hard-edged, often political genre fiction at its finest. The oft-reprinted "The War at Home," "The Circle" and "Till Human Voices Wake Us" remain worth reading, but the less familiar tales really make this collection stand out. The best include the Brady Bunch tweaking "Sitcom," deft alternate history "The Death of Che Guevara" (original to this volume) and creepy horror story "Love in Vain." Several short-shorts, a trio of early mysteries, a western and some mainstream stories showcase Shiner's versatility. Perhaps the best tales have only a hint of the supernatural, like the opening tale, "Perfidia," a look at the "real" death of Glenn Miller in light of post-9/11 politics. Shiner never fails to astound, and this collection highlights everything that makes him one of today's best storytellers.
