About the Author

Wells Tower's short stories and journalism have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, McSweeney's, The Paris Review, The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories, The Washington Post Magazine, and elsewhere. He received two Pushcart Prizes and the Plimpton Prize from The Paris Review. He divides his time between Chapel Hill, North Carolina and Brooklyn, New York.

Reviews

"This arresting debut collection of stories decisively establishes Mr. Tower as a writer of uncommon talent." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times "Artful and funny and empathetic. His fictional universe is a perfectly balanced little biosphere of violence and mercy, aggression and nurturing." --Sam Anderson, New York magazine "A striking, often savage first collection of stories. Tower's language is as compact and muscular as a wrestler's body." --Heller McAlpin, San Francisco Chronicle "Tower writes about raggedy men, neglected boys, and quarrelsome Vikings who are down on their luck (if they ever had any). But the stories are very funny, and surprising, and possess a rugged beauty." --Vendela Vida, Vanity Fair "Tower seems incapable of writing a boring description. A crackling, head-turning debut." --Jonathan Miles, Men's Journal "It sometimes feels as if there's nothing Tower can't render in arresting fashion. His prose is a welcome reminder that the first job of the fiction writer is to introduce the reader to worlds both new and familiar in ways they wouldn't have arrived at on their own." --Jim Ruland, Los Angeles Times "Wells Tower's stories are written, thrillingly, in authentic American vernacular--violent, funny, bleak, and beautiful. You need to read them, now." --Michael Chabon, author of The Yiddish Policemen's Union and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

The title of this outstanding collection could well refer to the lives of the characters that Pushcart Prize winner Tower writes about-most often, individuals whose lives have fallen apart and are struggling through the difficult transition between a lost past and an uncertain future. In "The Brown Coast," a recent divorce working to restore a run-down seaside cottage in Texas owned by his uncle makes the acquaintance of a veterinarian and his wife. "Retreat" concerns the strained relationship between another middle-aged divorce who has recently purchased land in Maine and the brother he invites for a visit, a solitary music therapist from Seattle. The title story, ranging farthest in place and time, ostensibly concerns a band of Vikings out on a rather desultory raid of a nearby island, but it seems as much about the universal transition from the wild single life to the settled world of marriage and family. Tower has crafted a powerful and assured debut collection. Highly recommended for all public libraries.-Lawrence Rungren, Merrimack Valley Lib. Consortium, North Andover, MA Copyright 2008 Reed Business Information.

"This arresting debut collection of stories decisively establishes Mr. Tower as a writer of uncommon talent." --Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times "Artful and funny and empathetic. His fictional universe is a perfectly balanced little biosphere of violence and mercy, aggression and nurturing." --Sam Anderson, New York magazine "A striking, often savage first collection of stories. Tower's language is as compact and muscular as a wrestler's body." --Heller McAlpin, San Francisco Chronicle "Tower writes about raggedy men, neglected boys, and quarrelsome Vikings who are down on their luck (if they ever had any). But the stories are very funny, and surprising, and possess a rugged beauty." --Vendela Vida, Vanity Fair "Tower seems incapable of writing a boring description. A crackling, head-turning debut." --Jonathan Miles, Men's Journal "It sometimes feels as if there's nothing Tower can't render in arresting fashion. His prose is a welcome reminder that the first job of the fiction writer is to introduce the reader to worlds both new and familiar in ways they wouldn't have arrived at on their own." --Jim Ruland, Los Angeles Times "Wells Tower's stories are written, thrillingly, in authentic American vernacular--violent, funny, bleak, and beautiful. You need to read them, now." --Michael Chabon, author of The Yiddish Policemen's Union and The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay