Stories 2

Reading Joy Williams means looking into the abyss. She remains our great prophetess of nothingness. The grandmaster of the short story is back: thirteen new and classic tales from an inimitable voice in contemporary literature. Joy Williams has long achieved cult status: she tells stories of strange children, drunks, and outsiders—those who stand askew in the world, the lonely, the overlooked, death, and animals, for they are closer to God than we are, yet they are lost to Him. Hope lies in ruins, and yet on these pages, humor flickers time and again, a laughter in the dark, that specifically American brand of wit that arises from pain. Here is a writer who gazes deeply into the confused and innocent heart of things. And from the wilderness of her prose, nothing and no one escapes unscathed. Translated by Julia Wolf. One of the best writers in America. She will always change my view of the world in unexpected ways. Joy Williams is perhaps the most significant writer of our time. It's hard to say what is more shocking: her historical irreplaceability or her talent. Perhaps the greatest living master of the short story.