{"product_id":"tunneling-to-the-center-of-the-earth-stories-9780063041028","title":"Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA debut short story collection in the tradition of writers like Kelly Link, Aimee Bender, and George Saunders--strange, imaginative, and refreshingly original\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e--\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003enow back in print as part of Ecco's \"Art of the Story\" Series, \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e and with a new introduction from the author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eKevin Wilson's characters inhabit a world that moves seamlessly between the real and the imagined, the mundane and the fantastic. \"Grand Stand-In\" is narrated by an employee of the Nuclear Family Supplemental Provider--a company that supplies \"stand-ins\" for families with deceased, ill, or just plain mean grandparents. And in \"Blowing Up On the Spot,\" a story singled out by Ann Patchett for Ploughshares, a young woman works sorting tiles at a Scrabble factory after her parents have spontaneously combusted. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Southern gothic at its best, laced with humor and pathos, these wonderfully inventive stories explore the relationship between loss and death and the many ways we try to cope with both.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWilson, Kevin:\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e - \u003cp\u003eKevin Wilson is the author of the novels \u003cem\u003eThe Family Fang, \u003c\/em\u003e a \u003cem\u003eNew York Times \u003c\/em\u003ebestseller adapted into an acclaimed film starring Nicole Kidman, and \u003cem\u003ePerfect Little World\u003c\/em\u003e, as well as the story collections \u003cem\u003eTunneling to the Center of the Earth, \u003c\/em\u003e winner of the Shirley Jackson Award, and \u003cem\u003eBaby, You're Gonna Be Mine\u003c\/em\u003e. He lives in Sewanee, Tennessee, with his wife and two sons.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ecco Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50677235286290,"sku":"9780063041028","price":14.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_b3c5b6a0-8d23-4ed0-a8e1-c19ded53bc4a.jpg?v=1733890991","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/tunneling-to-the-center-of-the-earth-stories-9780063041028","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}