<div>The classic work on the art of fiction by the &ldquo;refreshingly unpredictable&rdquo; novelist and literary critic (Publishers Weekly)In this posthumously published collection of his essays and reviews, acclaimed novelist John Gardner discusses the craft of fiction writing, taking to task some of his best-known contemporaries in the process. Gardner criticizes some for writing disingenuous fiction, and commends others who produce literature that acts as a life-affirming force. He offers insights into and exacting critiques on such writers as Vladimir Nabokov, John Updike, Saul Bellow, and John Cheever, while addressing his personal influences and delivering broad-ranging observations on literary culture. Provocative and poignant, On Writers &amp; Writing is a must-read for both aspiring writers and careful readers of American literature. This ebook features a new illustrated biography of John Gardner, including original letters, rare photos, and never-before-seen documents from the Gardner family and the University of Rochester Archives.</div>

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On Writers & Writing

<div>An award-winning collection of short fiction from one of &ldquo;the strongest American writers of his generation&rdquo; (The Washington Post Book World). Proclaimed &ldquo;a master&rdquo; by the New York Times and selected as one of Granta&rsquo;s Best Young American Novelists, Stewart O&rsquo;Nan started his literary career with this outstanding collection of short stories. Selected as the winner of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, these twelve stories offer intimate portraits of a broad range of characters&mdash;including a ruined farmer, a black day laborer, an old Chinese grocer, and a young policeman who descends into madness after being separated from his family. Probing and lyrical, these stories illuminate the connections that bind us and the obligations and sorrows of love. From The Speed Queen to The Names of the Dead to West of Sunset, O&rsquo;Nan has dazzled readers again and again. Fans new and old will enjoy In the Walled City. &ldquo;These are stories of a high order, sophisticated, humane, persistent; once read, they don&rsquo;t go away.&rdquo; &mdash;Tobias Wolff</div>

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In the Walled City

<div>This novel of Pittsburgh, by the author of Last Night at the Lobster, &ldquo;celebrates the lives of everyday people in an extraordinary way&rdquo; (San Francisco Chronicle). Pittsburgh, 1998: Chris &ldquo;Crest&rdquo; Tolbert is eighteen years old, a soon-to-be father, and partially paralyzed after an accident that left his best friend dead. As he navigates the challenges of new fatherhood and life as a paraplegic, Crest must also negotiate his relationships with his born-again brother and his father, who has been cheating on Crest&rsquo;s mother with a younger man. In Everyday People, acclaimed novelist Stewart O&rsquo;Nan offers a multifaceted portrait of Crest and of East Liberty, the African American neighborhood he calls home. The result is &ldquo;a living, breathing history lesson that brings together a set of compelling voices that make real and immediate the ups and downs of a black urban community&rdquo; (Chicago Tribune). &ldquo;Like Sherwood Anderson&rsquo;s Winesburg, Ohio or Gloria Naylor&rsquo;s Women of Brewster Place, Everyday People weaves its tale elliptically. . . . O&rsquo;Nan creates vivid interior worlds, evoking conflicts and joys with astonishing grace and agility.&rdquo; &mdash;Pittsburgh Post-Gazette</div>

Everyday People

<div>A death-row inmate gives her confession&mdash;a hair-raising tale of sex, drugs and murder across Oklahoma&mdash;in this &ldquo;vividly realized&rdquo; novel (The New York Times Book Review). Marjorie Standiford has quite a story to tell. And on the eve of her execution for a sensational murder spree, she&rsquo;s giving every detail, just as she remembers them, to the famous novelist who has come to record it all. Of course, Marjorie contends that she didn&rsquo;t do any killing. That was all Lamont, her boyfriend, and Natalie, their girlfriend, while Marjorie got high and took care of the baby. But she was in it just the same, careening across the desert plains of Oklahoma, fueled by lust, crime, cars, drugs&mdash;speed in all its forms. The Speed Queen is the story of a terrifying voyage into the dark soul of America&rsquo;s Heartland. From acclaimed author Stewart O&rsquo;Nan&mdash;selected by Granta as one of the Best Young American Novelists&mdash;this is &ldquo;classic American noir&rdquo; in the tradition of James M. Cain (San Francisco Chronicle).</div>

The Speed Queen

<div>A family gathers at their vacation cottage for the last time: “Riveting…the perfect summer-by-the-lake read.”—Chicago Tribune A New York Times Notable Book A Chicago Tribune Favorite Book of the Year A year after the death of her husband, Emily Maxwell gathers her family by Lake Chautauqua in western New York for what will be a last vacation at their summer cottage. Joining is her sister-in-law, who silently mourns the sale of the lake house, and a long-lost love. Emily's firebrand daughter, a recovering alcoholic recently separated from her husband, brings her children from Detroit. Emily's son, who has quit his job and mortgaged his future to pursue his art, comes accompanied by his children and his wife, who is secretly heartened to be visiting the house for the last time. Memories of past summers resurface, old rivalries flare up, and love is rekindled and born anew, resulting in a timeless novel drawn, as the best writing often is, from the ebbs and flow of daily life. “A sprawling, generously written saga that imparts exceptional insights into the human heart.”—Charlotte Observer “Brilliantly mesmerizing.”—Los Angeles Times “Succeeds beautifully…showcases some of the finest character studies a contemporary reader could ask for.”—The Boston Globe</div>

Wish You Were Here

<div>The acclaimed author delivers an “affecting and nuanced examination of family alliances tested by infidelity, illness and the pervasive impact of WWII” (Publishers Weekly). Set at a remote beachfront cottage in the Hamptons one summer during the Second World War, A World Away follows the fortunes of the Langer family, whose oldest son, Rennie, is missing in action in the Pacific theater. But there is another battle raging at home, as Anne and James Langer’s marriage begins to unravel. After her husband’s affair with a student, Anne begins a clandestine romance with a soldier stationed at a nearby base. Yet all the passion and tenderness Anne finds with her lover is unable to ease the ache of her family being torn apart. Thousands of miles away, Rennie is wounded in the effort to drive the Japanese from the island of Attu, as his young wife gives birth alone in San Diego. When Rennie comes home, James and Anne must repair their own broken lives if they’re going to help their son heal. A World Away is a rich, romantic story that has all the depth and generosity of spirit that have become Stewart O’Nan’s signature.</div>

A World Away

<div>A deadly epidemic threatens the lives and sanity of a Civil War veteran and his family in this “new masterpiece of American literature” (Dennis Lehane). Set in Friendship, Wisconsin, just after the Civil War, A Prayer for the Dying tells of a horrible epidemic that is suddenly and gruesomely killing the town’s residents and setting off a terrifying paranoia. Jacob Hansen, Friendship’s sheriff, undertaker, and pastor, is soon overwhelmed by the fear and anguish around him, and his sanity begins to fray. Dark, poetic, and chilling, Stewart O’Nan’s A Prayer for the Dying examines the effect of madness and violence on the morality of a once-decent man. Praise for A Prayer for the Dying New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year “A Prayer for the Dying reads like the amazing, unrelenting love child of Shirley Jackson and Cormac McCarthy. It’s twisted proof that God will do worse to test a faithful man than the devil would ever do to punish a sinner.”?Chuck Palahniuk “O’Nan again proves himself a writer of dazzling virtuosity and imagination. . . . A mesmerizing story and a brilliant tour de force.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)</div>

Stewart O'Nan
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Books By Stewart O'Nan (6 Books)

In the Walled City

Everyday People

The Speed Queen

Wish You Were Here

A World Away

A Prayer for the Dying

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