{"title":"David Means","description":"David Means was born and raised in Michigan. He is the author of several short-story collections, including Instructions for a Funeral, The Spot (a New York Times notable book of the year), Assorted Fire Events (winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction), and The Secret Goldfish, and of the novel Hystopia (long-listed for the Man Booker Prize). His stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Mystery Stories, The O. Henry Prize Stories, and other publications. The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2013, Means lives in Nyack, New York, and teaches at Vassar College.","products":[{"product_id":"two-nurses-smoking-stories-paperback","title":"Two Nurses, Smoking: Stories - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eFinalist for the 2023 Joyce Carol Oates Prize\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eA new collection of stories by David Means, a visionary \"master of the form\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eTwo nurses meet in the hospital parking lot to share a cigarette. They flirt and imagine a future together. They tell stories of patients lost and patients saved, of the darkest corners of human suffering and the luminous moments that break through, even here, in the shadow of death. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn David Means's virtuosic new collection, time unfolds in unexpected ways: a single, quiet moment swells with the echoes of a widower's complicated marriage; a dachshund, given a new name and a new life by a new owner, catches the scent of the troubled man who previously abandoned her; young lovers become old; estranged couples return to their vows; and those who have died live on in perpetuity in the memories of those whom they touched. The stories in this collection--which have won the O. Henry Prize and the Pushcart Prize, and have been featured in \u003ci\u003eThe Best American Short Stories\u003c\/i\u003e--confirm the promise of a writer who \"believes in the power of stories to rescue and redeem people\" (Max Liu, \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA revelatory meditation on trauma and catharsis, isolation and communion, \u003ci\u003eTwo Nurses, Smoking\u003c\/i\u003e reflects the dislocations and anguish of our age, as well as the humanity and humor that buoy us.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50104770101471,"sku":"9781250872517","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/YPQMGa47Pi9781250872517.webp?v=1781111281"}],"url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/collections\/david-means.oembed","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}