First published 2004
In these stories spanning thirty-five years, Sorrentino's characters plunge into urban wasteland seeking meaning in all the wrong places. They confuse genuine art with trendy scenes, mistake raw lust for deep love, and let small ambitions consume them. A cocktail hour under moonlight becomes their version of the American dream. They pursue banal perversions and cling to nostalgia as innocence vanishes at breakneck pace. The author builds each tale with precise detail and sharp commentary on modern life. His characters remain vivid despite their brief appearances, speaking in authentic dialects rich with metaphor. Though Sorrentino declares that art cannot rescue anyone from anything, these grimly comic stories locate humor and beauty within cynical despair. The collection draws from both new work and pieces that first appeared in Harper's, Esquire, and The Best American Short Stories, offering unsentimental portraits of people diving headfirst into cultural emptiness yet somehow finding moments of salvation.
Genres: literary-fiction, american-fiction, 20th-century, 21st-century
Vibes: cynical, gritty, thought-provoking
Tropes: grimly-comic, unsentimental
Period: 20th-Century, 21st-Century
300 pages · Paperback · Coffee House Press