{"product_id":"the-heaven-of-animals-stories-9781476729978","title":"The Heaven of Animals: Stories","description":"\u003cb\u003eNamed one of Amazon's Best Short Story Collections of 2014\u003cbr\u003e One of \u003ci\u003eAtlanta Journal Constitution\u003c\/i\u003e's 9 Best Books of 2014\u003cbr\u003e Best Short Story Collection of the Year, \u003ci\u003eTweed's Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Winner of GLCA New Writers Award for Fiction\u003cbr\u003e 2014 LA Times Book Prize Finalist\u003cbr\u003e Winner of the Florida Book Awards Silver Medal for Fiction\u003cbr\u003e Nominated for the PEN\/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"A debut collection of unsparing yet warmly empathetic stories...akin to both Anton Chekhov and Raymond Carver in humane spirit and technical mastery\" (\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review). \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Heaven of Animals\u003c\/i\u003e, award-winning young writer David James Poissant's stunning debut, has been one of the most-praised story collections of the year. Named one of Amazon's Best Short Story Collections of 2014, compared to the work of Richard Ford and Amy Hemple in the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e, to Anton Chekhov, Raymond Carver, and George Saunders in the \u003ci\u003eNew York Post\u003c\/i\u003e, and the subject of a full-page rave by Clyde Edgerton in \u003ci\u003eGarden \u0026amp; Gun\u003c\/i\u003e, this \"collection of vicious and heartbreaking vignettes\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Orlando Sentinel\u003c\/i\u003e) is a must-read for any fiction lover. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn each of the stories in this remarkable debut, Poissant explores the tenuous bonds of family--fathers and sons, husbands and wives--as they are tested by the sometimes brutal power of love. His strikingly true-to-life characters have reached a precipice, chased there by troubles of their own making. Standing at the brink, each must make a choice: Leap, or look away? Pulitzer Prize finalist Lee Martin writes that Poissant forces us \"to face the people we are when we're alone in the dark.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFrom two friends racing to save the life an alligator in \"Lizard Man\" to a girl helping her boyfriend face his greatest fears in \"The End of Aaron,\" from a man who stalks death on an Atlanta street corner to a brother's surprise at the surreal, improbable beauty of a late night encounter with a wolf, Poissant creates worlds that shine with honesty and dark complexity, but also with a profound compassion. These are stories hell-bent on hope. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFresh, smart, lively, and wickedly funny, \u003ci\u003eThe Heaven of Animals \u003c\/i\u003eis startlingly original and compulsively readable. As bestselling author Kevin Wilson puts it, \"Poissant is a writer who knows us with such clarity that we wonder how he found his way so easily into our hearts and souls.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePoissant, David James:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - David James Poissant is the author of \u003ci\u003eThe Heaven of Animals: Stories\u003c\/i\u003e, in print in five languages, winner of the GLCA New Writers Award and a Florida Book Award, a finalist for the \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e Book Prize, and longlisted for the PEN\/Robert W. Bingham Prize. His writing has appeared in \u003ci\u003eThe Atlantic Monthly\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e The Chicago Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e The New York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e One Story\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePloughshares\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e The Southern Review\u003c\/i\u003e, and in numerous anthologies including \u003ci\u003eNew Stories from the South\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e Best New American Voices\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eBest American Experimental Writing\u003c\/i\u003e. A recipient of scholarships and fellowships from the Bread Loaf, Sewanee, Tin House, Wesleyan, and Longleaf writers' conferences, he teaches in the MFA program at the University of Central Florida and lives in Orlando with his wife and daughters. \u003ci\u003eLake Life\u003c\/i\u003e is his first novel.","brand":"Simon \u0026 Schuster","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50566559203602,"sku":"9781476729978","price":11.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_93cb0ed8-f48c-47c1-b648-4e1c831f1287.jpg?v=1731901859","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-heaven-of-animals-stories-9781476729978","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}