Erin McGraw

“McGraw is wise and occasionally laugh–out–loud funny, with a seventh sense for the perfect turn of phrase . . . This quintessential collection of stories serves as an homage to the form while showcasing McGraw’s stunning talent and deep empathy for the idiosyncrasies, small joys, and despairs of human nature." —Publishers Weekly (starred and boxed review) In Joy, narrators step out of themselves to explain their lives to us, sometimes defensively, sometimes regretfully, other times deceitfully. Voices include those of the impulsive first–time murderer, the depressed pet sitter, the assistant of Patsy Cline, the anxiety–riddled new mother, the aged rock–and–roller, the girlfriend of your husband—human beings often (incredibly) unaware of the turning points staring them in the face. "How can stories this brief be so satisfying? . . . [McGraw] deals with the profound, the dire, the mundane, and the ridiculous, paying particular attention to relationships between parents and children, siblings, spouses, criminals, and their victims. While some stories are meant purely to amuse, many are intense and beautiful . . . Fifty–three gems that demonstrate all the things a short story can do. Wow." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

And 52 Other Very Short Stories

Filled with poignancy and insight, this collection of stories interrogates the line between optimism and hopelessness, from the story of a depressed wife who learns a few lessons in happiness from a friend's flaky husband to the priest who becomes a binge eater to stave off his unhappiness. Original.

Stories

The Good Life

Sigmund Brouwer

Nick Barrett is called in to solve a cold case, a former beauty queen's disappearance. Nick discovers an unlikely connection to a Citadel cadet's brutal hazing. His investigation circles closer to a century-old conspiracy to expose and punish the secret sins of Charleston's high society.

Lies of the Saints

Ideals and reality collide when six college friends band together to start an ice cream store, promising "Better Food for a Better World," but finding a worse world than they had expected. It seems like a great idea: six friends from college pool their money and energy to start an ice cream store. Natural High Ice Cream: Better Food for a Better World. It's high-minded, with a wink, like the marital self-help group they all belong to. The store finds a ready clientele in its northern California college town filled with amiable ex-hippies who are happy to contribute to a better world, even if all they have to contribute is the price of an ice cream cone. But the store, like the marriage group, turns out to be work, not fun, and rifts start to appear between the friends. Nancy, who had seemed so easygoing and sweetly sexy when they started, turns stern. Cecilia, who had wanted to be a musician, is openly bored. And flighty, excitable Vivy is crawling out of her skin. She yearns for the old days, before Natural High, when she and her husband Sam traveled around the country with countercultural musicians and dancers. She'd give anything to have those days back again. And so quietly, without telling the partners, she starts to rev up the old company, contacting her old acts--the fat contortionist, the muscle-bound juggler. She's going to save them all, and Natural High, too. But saving turns out to be harder than it looks, and Vivy isn't the only one with secrets.

A Novel

Better Food for a Better World

Erin Lyn McGraw's unique poetry book is about making memories, having friends, family, and people that we love in our lives and sometimes having to say good-bye to them. In this collection of twenty-nine poems, McGraw includes personal stories about how each poem came about from working with hospice patients in her life as a nurse to her feelings of love for her mother and father. In "World Within a World," McGraw describes how it feels when you meet that special person and the world is a bit brighter, happier and safer while in "The Friend in You," she writes about friendships that come and go. A Memory and a Wish is about experiences of life -- good and bad. Some will make you cry and some will warm your heart and make you realize you aren't alone in things you experience on this road called life. And with each and every poem, McGraw gives you a little insight into her world.

A Memory and a Wish

Pastor Kate Gussey and her husband, Ned, provide a home for the homeless, build houses for the needy, and lend willing hands and sturdy good humor wherever needed. But when her ex-husband moves into her small town, people question Pastor Gussey's vaunted goodness. Why move her ex into her home? Why take in a spoiled, pregnant teenager? Piece by piece, Kate's shining life comes apart. She is attacked by a pro-life group, by her own church, and finally by her husband. Defending herself, she must rethink the most basic decisions of her life, and come to new conclusions.Erin McGraw has published two collections of short stories, and teaches at the University of Cincinnati.

The Baby Tree

Eleven stories deal with marriage, suicide, grief, talk shows, and parents and their adult children

Bodies at Sea

A collection of short stories that are “at once laugh-out-loud funny and utterly serious” (Claire Messud, author of The Burning Girl). “McGraw ably leavens heartbreak with humor . . . she renders quirky, refreshingly real characters—a mediocre ballet dancer who takes in a more successful dancer’s daughter; an insecure self-help author who’s thrown for a loop by a visit to her parents; a disillusioned bed-and-breakfast owner who flirts with moving to Aruba; Catholic priests who have trouble living up to their vows—on the verge of improving their lot in life. The happiness they catch glimpses of, though, frequently eludes their grasp . . . McGraw’s pitch-perfect dialogue and artful closeups on the telling, trying details of ordinary lives deliver stories that are easy to read but hard to forget.” —Publishers Weekly “I love these stories about nice normal people trying—and failing—to cling to their fondest delusions.” —Molly Giles, author of All the Wrong Places

This classic Chronicle book remains available as a print-on-demand title. You can purchase it from an online bookseller or by order from your local bookstore.

A Kansas seamstress reinvents herself in Los Angeles, but the past comes back to haunt her, in this “superb, surprising” historical novel (The Seattle Times). At age seventeen, Nell Plat is an unhappily married woman, quick with her needle and wit, but ill-suited to wifely duties like cooking, mothering, and tending to her boorish husband. Unable to shake her dreams of glamour and excitement, she abandons her family and quiet life in Kansas for the hustle, bustle, and glittering lights of Los Angeles. Among the wannabes and celebrities of the silver screen, Nell reinvents herself as Madame Annelle, seamstress to the stars. But just as she begins stitching her way to success, her past shows up on her doorstep, threatening to unravel her carefully crafted ruse. “Meticulously researched” (The A.V. Club) and “vibrant with historical accuracy” (SFGate)—based on the true story of the author’s grandmother—The Seamstress of Hollywood Boulevard is a fascinating look at old Hollywood glamour, gender roles, and the ever-evolving American dream.

Erin McGraw

About

Books

Join the club