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978-0-89587-216-6
0-89587-216-1
$12.95 paperback
5" x 8"
201 pages
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From the critically acclaimed
author of Jewel, Reed's Beach, and A Dream of Old
Leaves, comes a new collection of short stories that explores the
dangers and trials of everyday life. The people in these stories come
from working lives, lives where the struggle for home and family is
waged daily; lives where an ominous slip of paper on the office desk or
a broken glass left lying on the kitchen floor can signal the
precariousness of what is held dear.
From diners to waiting rooms
to apartment complexes, the characters in How To Get Home
struggle with disasters. But these are the quiet disasters of life--lost
jobs, divorce, illness, death. And as these characters come face to face
with these calamities, and struggle to overcome them, they become real.
The opening novella,
"After Leston," reintroduces Jewel Hilburn, the indomitable
title character from Jewel. In this poignant story, Jewel must
come to terms with the cost of moving her family to California to create
a better life for her retarded daughter. In the process, she learns a
lesson in love that only her sacrifice could allow her to see.
"How to Get Home"
is about Paul, a man just starting a job in a new town. While moving his
family into this new environment, Paul is stricken with a mysterious
illness. As his world becomes confined to his dark hospital room, he
realizes that life continues without him, and he begins to understand
that he is not as necessary as he once believed.
In "The Day After
Tomorrow," a financially strapped couple decides to check into a
local motel to escape an oppressive heat wave. The plan seems to work
until a strange desk clerk, a broken air conditioner, and a spoiled
romantic interlude in the pool shows them that, perhaps, escape is
impossible.
The New York Times Book
Review writes that Bret Lott "is a writer with a gift for
evoking the small sadnesses of life." The Los Angeles Times
says "Lott is one of the most important and imaginative writers in
America today," and the Boston Globe states that "Bret
Lott writes about the oridinariness of life with...delicacy and
subtlety." The stories in How To Get Home continue to chart
this powerful ground and show this gifted writer at the top of his
storytelling form.
about the author
Bret Lott is a native of Los Angeles, California, and now lives with
his wife and children in Charleston, South Carolina. He is the author of
the novels Jewel (an Oprah Book Club selection), Reed's Beach,
A Stranger's House, and The Man Who Owned Vermont, as well as
a previous story collection, A Dream of Old Leaves. His short
stories have appeared in many literary journals and magazines, and have
been widely anthologized. He teaches writing at the College of
Charleston and Vermont College.
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