Published to great critical acclaim on both sides of the Atlantic, the
iridescent stories in Claire Keegan's debut collection, Antarctica, have
been acclaimed by The Observer to be among the finest contemporary
stories written recently in English. In Antarctica, a married woman
travels out of town to see what it's like to sleep with a man other than
her husband. Love in the Tall Grass takes Cordelia down a coastal road
on the last day of the twentieth century to keep a date with her lover
that has been nine years in the waiting. Stay Close to the Water's Edge
tells of a young Harvard student who is pitilessly humiliated by his
homophobic stepfather on his birthday. Keegan's writing has a clear
vision of unaffected truths and boldly explores a world where dreams,
memory, and chance have crippling consequences for those involved. The
stories are often dark and enveloped in a palpable atmosphere, and the
reader feels that something big is going on in each of these carefully
sculpted tales. The award-winning Antarctica, a Los Angeles Times Best
Book of 2001, and recipient of the prestigious Rooney Prize for Irish
Literature, the William Trevor Prize, and the Martin Healy Award, is a
haunting debut. These stories are diamonds. -- Emily Robichaud, Esquire
That Keegan has a knack for storytelling is proved many times over....
-- Caitlin Macy, The New York Times Book Review [These] stories ...
show Keegan to be an authentic talent with a gimlet eye and a
distinctive voice. -- Amanda Heller, The Boston Globe Reading these
stories is like coming upon work of Ann Beattie or Raymond Carver at the
start of their careers. -- Jerry Griswold, Los Angeles Times
