Lucius Shepard explores the after-effects of trauma in this haunting story.
Bobby is a Columbia grad student studying philosophy who has taken a year off from school to help with the meticulous clean-up at ground zero after 9/11. Each day, he enters a nightmarish otherworld of smoke and ash, where pieces of broken lives emerge from the rubble like lost soul fragments. Haunted by what he has seen, he finds himself collecting pieces from the wreckage. Yet he is unable to talk about his experience—until he finds himself drawn to an enigmatic older woman at the bar he frequents after work. Every evening she sits there alone, fending off men who approach, seeking some kind of solace or resolution. Inexplicably, Bobby feels compelled to share stories with her. In a changed world where no one is quite whole, they may offer each other a missing piece.
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"This is an excellent collection. And short stories are always a tough sell with me. " — Gregor (4 out of 5 stars)
"This is an excellent collection. And short stories are always a tough sell with me. "
“Shepard manipulates genre elements in order to transcend genre expectations.”
“Shepard is fantasy literature’s Joseph Conrad or perhaps its Saul Bellow, a writer who never tires of staring directly into the abyss.”
“Chilling—and unforgettable.”
“Shepard is a magical existentialist…the magic of Robert Stone, Graham Greene, and Joseph Conrad lurks around the edges of his jungles.”
“A prodigious talent.”
" It had potential, but as the collection went on it became blurry, and rudderless. Lucius shephard could have done better. "
Lucius Shepard (1947–2014) won two World Fantasy Awards, as well as the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Theodore Sturgeon awards for science fiction writing and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer.
Robertson Dean has played leading roles on and off Broadway and at dozens of regional theaters throughout the country. He has a BA from Tufts University and an MFA from Yale. His audiobook narration has garnered ten AudioFile Earphones Awards. He now lives in Los Angeles, where he works in film and television in addition to narrating.
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