{"product_id":"certain-american-states-stories-paperback","title":"Certain American States: Stories - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e's Best Short Story Collections of 2018. Named a Summer Read by \u003ci\u003eVanity Fair, The Guardian, \u003c\/i\u003e \u003ci\u003eNylon, Bustle \u003c\/i\u003eand\u003ci\u003e Literary Hub. \u003c\/i\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eFinancial Times \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eTLS\u003c\/i\u003e's Best Books of 2018.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOne of \u003ci\u003eGranta\u003c\/i\u003e's Best Young American novelists, Catherine Lacey, the Whiting Award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eThe Answers\u003c\/i\u003e, showcases her literary style in short fiction with \u003ci\u003eCertain American States\u003c\/i\u003e, a collection of stories about ordinary people seeking--and failing to find--the extraordinary in their lives.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eCatherine Lacey brings her narrative mastery to \u003ci\u003eCertain American States\u003c\/i\u003e, her first collection of short stories. As with her acclaimed novels \u003ci\u003eNobody Is Ever Missing\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Answers\u003c\/i\u003e, she gives life to a group of subtly complex, instantly memorable characters whose searches for love, struggles with grief, and tentative journeys into the minutiae of the human condition are simultaneously gripping and devastating. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe characters in \u003ci\u003eCertain American States\u003c\/i\u003e are continually coming to terms with their place in the world, and how to adapt to that place, before change inevitably returns. A woman leaves her dead husband's clothing on the street, only for it to reappear on the body of a stranger; a man reads his ex-wife's short story and neurotically contemplates whether it is about him; a young woman whose Texan mother insists on moving to New York City with her has her daily attempts to get over a family tragedy interrupted by a mute stranger showing her incoherent messages on his phone. These are stories of breakups, abandonment, and strained family ties; dead brothers and distant surrogate fathers; loneliness, happenstance, starting over, and learning to let go. Lacey's elegiac and inspired prose is at its full power in this collection, further establishing her as one of the singular literary voices of her generation.","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51374422360287,"sku":"9781250214973","price":18.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0813\/8958\/4607\/files\/0745U7ShhB9781250214973.webp?v=1789178961","url":"https:\/\/blackandbarhe.com\/products\/certain-american-states-stories-paperback","provider":"Black \u0026 Barhe Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}