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See You in Paradise: Stories
(Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read)

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Published:
Graywolf Press 2014
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Checked Out
Description

The first substantial collection of short fiction from "a writer with enough electricity to light up the country" (Ann Patchett)
"I guess the things that scare you are the things that are almost normal," observes one narrator in this collection of effervescent and often uncanny stories. Drawing on fifteen years of work, See You in Paradise is the fullest expression yet of J. Robert Lennon's distinctive and brilliantly comic take on the pathos and surreality at the heart of American life.
In Lennon's America, a portal to another universe can be discovered with surprising nonchalance in a suburban backyard, adoption almost reaches the level of blood sport, and old pals return from the dead to steal your girlfriend. Sexual dysfunction, suicide, tragic accidents, and career stagnation all create surprising opportunities for unexpected grace in this full-hearted and mischievous depiction of those days (weeks, months, years) we all have when things just don't go quite right.

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Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
11/04/2014
Language:
English
ISBN:
9781555973285
ASIN:
B00KUY7GE4
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Citations
APA Citation (style guide)

J. Robert Lennon. (2014). See You in Paradise: Stories. Graywolf Press.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

J. Robert Lennon. 2014. See You in Paradise: Stories. Graywolf Press.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

J. Robert Lennon, See You in Paradise: Stories. Graywolf Press, 2014.

MLA Citation (style guide)

J. Robert Lennon. See You in Paradise: Stories. Graywolf Press, 2014.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
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Date Added:
Jun 12, 2018 18:29:40
Date Updated:
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        J. Robert Lennon is the author of seven novels, including Familiar, Castle, and Mailman, and a story collection, Pieces for the Left Hand. His fiction has appeared in The Paris Review, Granta, Harper's Magazine, Playboy, and The New Yorker. He lives in Ithaca, New York, where he teaches writing at Cornell University.

      • name: J. Robert Lennon
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See You in Paradise
fullDescription

The first substantial collection of short fiction from "a writer with enough electricity to light up the country" (Ann Patchett)
"I guess the things that scare you are the things that are almost normal," observes one narrator in this collection of effervescent and often uncanny stories. Drawing on fifteen years of work, See You in Paradise is the fullest expression yet of J. Robert Lennon's distinctive and brilliantly comic take on the pathos and surreality at the heart of American life.
In Lennon's America, a portal to another universe can be discovered with surprising nonchalance in a suburban backyard, adoption almost reaches the level of blood sport, and old pals return from the dead to steal your girlfriend. Sexual dysfunction, suicide, tragic accidents, and career stagnation all create surprising opportunities for unexpected grace in this full-hearted and mischievous depiction of those days (weeks, months, years) we all have when things just don't go quite right.

reviews
      • premium: False
      • source: Kirkus Reviews
      • content:

        "Unconventional yet emotionally resonant stories. . . . Much like his contemporaries Kevin Wilson or Wells Tower, Lennon is one of those writers who defies categorization and is as likely to fit comfortably into Weird Tales as he is into Granta."

      • premium: False
      • source: The Quivering Pen
      • content: "[Lennon] leads us through his own magic portal into weird, slightly-aslant worlds brewed and steeped in the hot coils of his brain."
      • premium: False
      • source: Dana Spiotta
      • content: "J. Robert Lennon finds the uncanny hidden in the every day. His dark, subservise stories are both hilarious and unnerving. See You in Paradise is smart, inventive and full of the fascinating particularities of various wayward humans."
      • premium: False
      • source: Kelly Link
      • content: "These are wonderful, fearsome stories, and I read each with a growing sense of unease and delight. J. Robert Lennon is a master of the dark arts."
      • premium: False
      • source: Téa Obreht

      • content: "To say that J. Robert Lennon writes speculative fiction is like suggesting that Tom Waits is known primarily for a couple of toned-down love songs. Dark, dazzling and reeling with a constant undertow of dangerous unpredictability, See You in Paradise is a brilliant return to the short story by one of the great masters of eerie domestic dystopia. In Lennon's world, anything can happen--and does."
      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        September 8, 2014
        Menace runs through many of the 14 stories in novelist Lennon’s (Familiar) first collection, tales of quotidian suburban existence into which he often introduces a surreal element. In “Hibachi,” the gift of the eponymous grill leads to an odd act of liberation for a frustrated wife. “Total Humiliation in 1987” features an unhappy family on vacation that finds another family’s time capsule and thereby casts a pall on their own activities. In the entertaining title story, a young man of “good qualities” successfully romances a CEO’s daughter only to find that he has made a deal with the devil. While “The Accursed Items” is a failed attempt at experimental fiction, “Weber’s Head” generates dread and humor in equal measure as a man who rents out a room in his apartment gets more than he bargains for when he takes on the proverbial roommate from hell. Three of the best stories, “Zombie Dan,” “The Wraith,” and “Portal” are postmodern riffs on classic science fiction and horror themes. Although several individual stories score, the collection as a whole strikes the same note of suburban disaffection over and over again to the ultimate point of diminishing returns.

      • premium: True
      • source: Kirkus
      • content:

        October 1, 2014
        Fourteen short stories about the quiet desperation and weary pessimism of a disparate collection of travelers. One sometimes wonders if Lennon (Familiar, 2012, etc.) published his recent Salon essay, "How to Write a Bad Review," in hopes of catching a break. Fortunately, the gifted novelist doesn't need the help, especially if he continues to produce short fiction such as the unconventional yet emotionally resonant stories on display here. Culled from the past 15 years, the stories tend to drift toward two categories. The more exotic and eye-catching are those that insert some magical or paranormal element into a drab suburban landscape. In "Portal," an otherworldly doorway to alternate universes becomes as boring as an old gaming console with time. In "Zombie Dan," a couple finds that their recently resurrected pal is even more irritating when he comes back with an omniscient knowledge of their sins. In "The Wraith," a wife's depression cleaves from her to become a golemlike ghoul that haunts her husband. Then there's "Weber's Head," an old-fashioned horror story whose narrator wouldn't be amiss in the other category of stories of disaffected people on the edge of despair. "I was thoroughly debased, and at thirty-two felt like I'd been an old man for a long time," says Weber's roommate. "I saw no way of escaping the life I'd made for myself, save for the mountain falling down and crushing me." This theme of characters with their songs stuck in their throats runs throughout the book in stories like "No Life," in which a couple struggles with adoption; "Total Humiliation in 1987," about a marriage on the rocks; and "Hibachi," a Carver-esque tale of the liberating power of home appliances. Perhaps best to end with "The Accursed Items," an interesting diversion originally broadcast on This American Life.Much like his contemporaries Kevin Wilson or Wells Tower, Lennon is one of those writers who defies categorization and is as likely to fit comfortably into Weird Tales as he is into Granta.

        COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        October 15, 2014

        Haunting, surreal, and often tinged with sf elements, Lennon's work is driven by a fertile, experimental imagination and an interest in examining suburban malaise. As evidenced in works such as Mailman and Familiar, he creates strange, unsettling, dystopian fictional worlds that may be real or may be manifestations of his protagonist's obsessions, pathologies, or damaged psychological states. Drawing on 15 years of work, this excellent collection includes a rich variety of short stories that explore these distinctive themes. Some of the stories are idea-driven, and they often highlight Lennon's interest in sf and flair for the macabre. "The Wraith," for example, is a potent and disturbing story about an unhappy suburban couple who suddenly find themselves living with a zombielike supernatural creature. Other entries are more character driven, and these are among the best in the collection. "Total Humiliation in 1987," for example, is an accomplished, emotionally moving psychological study of a marriage falling publicly and ignominiously apart in front of a couple's teenage children during a summer vacation. Lennon examines the suddenly unfathomable gulf that has grown between these parents with intelligence and pathos. VERDICT An eerie, disquieting, and powerful collection; recommended for fans of literary fiction. [See Prepub Alert, 6/2/14.]--Patrick Sullivan, Manchester Community Coll., CT

        Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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The first substantial collection of short fiction from "a writer with enough electricity to light up the country" (Ann Patchett)
"I guess the things that scare you are the things that are almost normal," observes one narrator in this collection of effervescent and often uncanny stories. Drawing on fifteen years of work, See You in Paradise is the fullest expression yet of J. Robert Lennon's distinctive and brilliantly comic take on the pathos and surreality at the heart of American life.
In Lennon's America, a portal to another universe can be discovered with surprising nonchalance in a suburban backyard, adoption almost reaches the level of blood sport, and old pals return from the dead to steal your girlfriend. Sexual dysfunction, suicide, tragic accidents, and career stagnation all create surprising opportunities for unexpected grace in this full-hearted and mischievous depiction of those days (weeks, months, years) we all have when things just don't go...

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