Kevin Brockmeier is the author of the story collectionThings That Fall from the Sky and the children's novel City of Names. He has published stories in many magazines and anthologies, includingThe New Yorker, The Georgia Review,McSweeney's, andThe Best American Short Stories, and his story "The Green Children" from The Truth About Celia was selected for The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. He has received the Chicago Tribune's Nelson Algren Award, an Italo Calvino Short Fiction Award, a James Michener-Paul Engle Fellowship, two O. Henry Awards (one of which was a first prize), and, most recently, an NEA grant. He lives in Little Rock, Arkansas.
“Emotional, heartbreaking and beautifully styled.” --San Francisco
Chronicle
“Devastating and dazzling; in its painful fusion of pathos, fantasy
and—ultimately—realism, Brockmeier’s heartbreaking book is
reminiscent of The Lovely Bones."--Time Out
“Together, the eight stories, ranging from psychological realism to
science fiction to supernatural fantasy, fall somewhere between a
linked collection and a full-fledge novel, and their unvarying
gracefulness takes some of the bite out of the sadness–perhaps to
much. They go down more easily than, given the subject, they ought
to.”
The New York Times Book Review
“Fierce and tightly imagined. . . . The Truth About Celia has all
the austere ache of a cello suite. . . . [Brockmeier] proves
himself a master of compassionate reach.” --The Boston Globe
“Affecting. . . . A dazzling fantasia on grief and time.”
--Entertainment Weekly
“Each sentence is an elegy–a celebration of every heartbreaking
detail that makes life beautiful and an exacting portrait of the
bone-aching, irredeemable despair of loss. Every scene is a heart
that throbs with both glorious, garrulous joy and profound,
insurmountable sorrow. Like all of Kevin’s work, this book is
exquisitely crafted and deeply evocative, and as a reader I am once
again awed and moved to both desperation and delight.” --Thisbe
Nissen, author of The Good People of New York
“A startlingly imaginative and empathetic work.” --The Miami
Herald
“Brilliant. . . . beautifully written and relentlessly gripping. .
. . The psychological devastation suffered by Janet and Christopher
. . . is made excruciatingly tangible in [this] remarkable novel.”
--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“Lyrical, magical, achingly bittersweet. . . . The mesmerizing
whisper of Brockmeier’s prose [turns] skeptical readers into
believers. The gentle, rolling pulse of these sentences make
elegiac epiphanies out of Christopher’s grief-borne
stream-of-consciousness. . . . For evoking this bleak estate with
unflinching accuracy and honesty, Kevin Brockmeier deserves our
praise.” --Newsday
“A compelling and intricate study of loss and acceptance.” --The
Baltimore Sun
"Imagine I'm standing beside you in the bookstore. I'm putting this
book in your hands. I loved The Truth About Celia: you should buy
this book, take it home, and read it at once." --Kelly Link, author
of Stranger Things Happen
“The gorgeous language and wealth of detail . . . elicit[s] from
readers overwhelming feelings that lead to a catharsis. --The
Commercial Appeal (Memphis)
“Outstanding. . . . Eloquently describes the pain of losing a child
and the search for meaning in resistant fact and more resilient
imagination. I highly recommend this book.” --John Hammond, The San
Antonio Express-News
“Some of the most moving writing in the English language. . . . The
pleasure of Brockmeier’s novel–and it is a deep pleasure
indeed–comes from an excruciatingly poignant exploration of the
effect of Brooks’ loss. . . . Fellow writers can only envy
Brockmeier’s felicity with prose, his lyricism that aspires to
great music. The Truth About Celia is modest in size but not in
scope, and the magnificent prose lingers in memory long after the
book is closed.” --Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
“Wrenching . . . You may never read a more beautifully written
novel than this one.” --The Arkansas Times
"Emotional, heartbreaking and beautifully styled." --San
Francisco Chronicle
"Devastating and dazzling; in its painful fusion of
pathos, fantasy and-ultimately-realism, Brockmeier's heartbreaking
book is reminiscent of The Lovely Bones."--Time Out
"Together, the eight stories, ranging from psychological
realism to science fiction to supernatural fantasy, fall somewhere
between a linked collection and a full-fledge novel, and their
unvarying gracefulness takes some of the bite out of the
sadness-perhaps to much. They go down more easily than, given the
subject, they ought to."
The New York Times Book Review
"Fierce and tightly imagined. . . . The Truth About Celia
has all the austere ache of a cello suite. . . . [Brockmeier]
proves himself a master of compassionate reach." --The Boston
Globe
"Affecting. . . . A dazzling fantasia on grief and time."
--Entertainment Weekly
"Each sentence is an elegy-a celebration of every heartbreaking
detail that makes life beautiful and an exacting portrait of the
bone-aching, irredeemable despair of loss. Every scene is a heart
that throbs with both glorious, garrulous joy and profound,
insurmountable sorrow. Like all of Kevin's work, this book is
exquisitely crafted and deeply evocative, and as a reader I am once
again awed and moved to both desperation and delight." --Thisbe
Nissen, author of The Good People of New York
"A startlingly imaginative and empathetic work." --The Miami
Herald
"Brilliant. . . . beautifully written and relentlessly gripping. .
. . The psychological devastation suffered by Janet and Christopher
. . . is made excruciatingly tangible in [this] remarkable novel."
--Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"Lyrical, magical, achingly bittersweet. . . . The mesmerizing
whisper of Brockmeier's prose [turns] skeptical readers into
believers. The gentle, rolling pulse of these sentences make
elegiac epiphanies out of Christopher's grief-borne
stream-of-consciousness. . . . For evoking this bleak estate with
unflinching accuracy and honesty, Kevin Brockmeier deserves our
praise." --Newsday
"A compelling and intricate study of loss and acceptance." --The
Baltimore Sun
"Imagine I'm standing beside you in the bookstore. I'm putting this
book in your hands. I loved The Truth About Celia: you
should buy this book, take it home, and read it at once." --Kelly
Link, author of Stranger Things Happen
"The gorgeous language and wealth of detail . . . elicit[s] from
readers overwhelming feelings that lead to a catharsis. --The
Commercial Appeal (Memphis)
"Outstanding. . . . Eloquently describes the pain of losing a child
and the search for meaning in resistant fact and more resilient
imagination. I highly recommend this book." --John Hammond, The
San Antonio Express-News
"Some of the most moving writing in the English language. . . . The
pleasure of Brockmeier's novel-and it is a deep pleasure
indeed-comes from an excruciatingly poignant exploration of the
effect of Brooks' loss. . . . Fellow writers can only envy
Brockmeier's felicity with prose, his lyricism that aspires to
great music. The Truth About Celia is modest in size but not
in scope, and the magnificent prose lingers in memory long after
the book is closed." --Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
"Wrenching . . . You may never read a more beautifully written
novel than this one." --The Arkansas Times
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