T. M. McNally

What a refreshing relief to read a collection of stories that look at the grim fate of humanity and still find some kind of redemption in the capacity for love. Very real, very painful lives, but very beautifully described. It's so fashionable to write about poor and lower middle class lives, with drugs, lies, desperation, illness, but usually the stories end with some awful hopeless ending that makes you wonder why anyone bothers to live, even. Well, these stories are about those same show more people, but about how and why they go on. In mood and feeling, not quite at the Jhampa Lahiri level, but in the same general genre. show less

This fine book of stories, which was a finalist for the Penn/Faulkner prize this year, deserves a wide readership. If you're a fan of excellent short fiction, read this one; you won't want to miss it.