Patrick Somerville

A novel-in-stories travels from suburbs to outer space and revolves around the tale "The Machine of Understanding Other People," in which a Chicago man is given a supernatural helmet that lets him experience the inner worlds of others.

The Universe in Miniature in Miniature

A debut anthology of short fiction explores the perils of adolescence and adulthood for the American male in such works as the Pushcart Prize-nominated title story, "Puberty," "English Cousin," and "The Future, the Future, the Future," in which Dan's carefully plotted life unravels when he witnesses his wife kissing his boss. Original. 30,000 first printing.

Stories

Trouble

A compelling story of young love and old secrets Ben Hanson's aimless life has bottomed out after a series of bad decisions, but an unexpected offer from his father draws him home to Wisconsin. There, he finds his family fractured, still reeling from his cousin's mysterious death a decade earlier. Lauren Sheehan abandoned her career in medicine after a series of violent events abroad. Now she's back in the safest place she knows -- the same small Wisconsin town where she and Ben grew up -- hiding from a world that has only brought her heartache. As Lauren cautiously expands her horizons and Ben tries to unravel his family's dark secrets, their paths intersect. Could each be exactly what the other needs? A compelling family drama and a surprising love story, This Bright River is the work of a natural storyteller, one whose dark humor and piercing intelligence provide constant, lasting delights.

A Novel

This Bright River

Ten years after a the imminent birth of a couple's first child is marked by the expectant mom's desire to reclaim an antique cradle from the mother who abandoned her years earlier, a middle-aged couple worries about their son's imminent stationing in Iraq; a situation that reminds the young soldier's mother about her first love.

The Cradle

From award-winning novelist Patrick Somerville comes this genre-busting novel-in-stories that leaps between small-town suburbs and the outer reaches of outer-space. A cast of outcasts—including the world's angriest mercenary, a sad surrealist, and a messianic alcoholic lawyer—bind together in this surprisingly warm exploration of love and identity in the post-millennial world.

Patrick Somerville

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