**WINNER OF THE STORY PRIZE - LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD -
NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY *NEWSDAY
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY
The Washington Post - San Francisco Chronicle - O: The Oprah
Magazine - The Miami Herald - Publishers Weekly - Kirkus Reviews**
**
Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader's Circle
for author chats and more.
From the author of the beloved novel *The Giant's House--*finalist for
the National Book Award--comes a beautiful new story collection, her
first in twenty years. Laced through with the humor, the empathy, and
the rare and magical descriptive powers that have led Elizabeth
McCracken's fiction to be hailed as "exquisite" (The New York Times
Book Review), "funny and heartbreaking" (The Boston Globe), and "a
true marvel" (San Francisco Chronicle), these nine vibrant stories
navigate the fragile space between love and loneliness. In "Property,"
selected by Geraldine Brooks for The Best American Short Stories, a
young scholar, grieving the sudden death of his wife, decides to
refurbish the Maine rental house they were to share together by removing
his landlord's possessions. In "Peter Elroy: A Documentary by Ian
Casey," the household of a successful filmmaker is visited years later
by his famous first subject, whose trust he betrayed. In "The Lost &
Found Department of Greater Boston," the manager of a grocery store
becomes fixated on the famous case of a missing local woman, and on the
fate of the teenage son she left behind. And in the unforgettable title
story, a family makes a quixotic decision to flee to Paris for a summer,
only to find their lives altered in an unimaginable way by their teenage
daughter's risky behavior.
In Elizabeth McCracken's universe, heartache is always interwoven with
strange, charmed moments of joy--an unexpected conversation with small
children, the gift of a parrot with a bad French accent--that remind us
of the wonder and mystery of being alive. Thunderstruck & Other
Stories shows this inimitable writer working at the full height of her
powers.
Praise for Thunderstruck & Other Stories
"Restorative, unforgettable . . . a powerful testament to the scratchy
humor and warm intelligence of McCracken's writing."--Sylvia
Brownrigg, The New York Times Book Review (Editor's Choice)
"[A] bewitching and wise collection . . . playful, even
joyful."--O: The Oprah Magazine
"Stunningly beautiful . . . brilliantly moving . . . Moments of joy and
pure magic flicker and pitch-perfect humor acts as a furtive SOS signal
through the fog of loss."--Los Angeles Times
"Each of Thunderstruck's nine stories is a storm: delightful and
destructive, packed with electricity, fascinating to watch
unfold."--Salon
"The stories here are brilliant, funny and heartbreaking. . . .
Elizabeth McCracken is a national treasure."--Paul Harding, The Wall
Street Journal
"Pure delight: one lyrical, impeccably constructed sentence after
another."--Chicago Tribune
"Beautifully wrought . . . As painstaking as a watchmaker, McCracken
disassembles life down to its smallest parts."--The Boston Globe
