Paper Lantern: Love Stories - Softcover

Praise for "I Sailed with Magellan

""Dybek's gift--a considerable one--is a sorcerer's ability to commix the commonplace and the grotesque." --"Los Angeles Times

""Spellbinding stories that are, by turns, hilarious, stunning and tragic, but always deeply moving, genuine and compassionate." --"Chicago Tribune"

"[Stuart Dybek] somehow manages to conjure up beautiful, detailed imitations of real America, and then infuse them with so much surreal truth that they read like myths or fairy tales. Like the Chicago he often writes about, his work is full of genuine sentiment, and edge, and beauty. One of the most soulful writers in American, and a national treasure." --George Saunders, "Oprah Magazine""A modern master . . . Dybek is incapable of writing a dull page." --Clarence Brown, "The Seattle Times""A true artist . . . Dybek summons up the wonder of the unexpected and the improbable, he achieves a low-key form of magical realism that places him in a constellation of writers that includes Joyce in 'The Dubliners, ' Italo Calvino, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Chicago's own Leon Forrest." --Donna Seaman, "Chicago Tribune""There is a lyricism to [Stuart] Dybek's writing, an eagerness to read metaphors and hidden meanings in the stuff of ordinary life." --Michiko Kakutani, "The New York Times""The nine stories gathered here have appeared, scattered across two decades, in the most prestigious American outlets for short fiction; they make for a remarkably unified and consistent collection. . . . A very fine book from a gifted practitioner of the short story form." --"Publisher's Weekly", starred review

"[Dybek's] two new collections establish him as not only our most relevant writer, but maybe our best." --Darin Strauss, "New York Times Book Review"""Ecstatic Cahoots" and "Paper Lantern" confirm Dybek as a virtuoso of the short story--a nimble, compassionate writer who uses precise, lucid, original descriptions. He shows us all we need to know and nothing more." --Valerie Milner, "The San Francisco Chronicle""Masterful . . . Like Proust, Dybek has a deserved reputation as a superb cartographer of memory." --Trevor Quirk, "The Los Angeles Review of Books""A modern master . . . Dybek is incapable of writing a dull page." --Clarence Brown, "The Seattle Times""A true artist . . . Dybek summons up the wonder of the unexpected and the improbable, he achieves a low-key form of magical realism that places him in a constellation of writers that includes Joyce in 'The Dubliners, ' Italo Calvino, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Chicago's own Leon Forrest." --Donna Seaman, "Chicago Tribune""There is a lyricism to [Stuart] Dybek's writing, an eagerness to read metaphors and hidden meanings in the stuff of ordinary life." --Michiko Kakutani, "The New York Times""The nine stories gathered here have appeared, scattered across two decades, in the most prestigious American outlets for short fiction; they make for a remarkably unified and consistent collection. . . . A very fine book from a gifted practitioner of the short story form." --"Publisher's Weekly," starred review

"Not only our most relevant writer, but maybe our best." --Darin Strauss, "New York Times Book Review" "What I will remember about these stories . . . [are the] sudden moments that rise up out of a conversation or out of the surface of a mirror, or which suddenly appear, as shocking as being served an entree of predigested seaweed from the beaks of swifts: a little alarming, a little wonderful." --Meg Wolitzer, "NPR""Stuart Dybek's genre-bending short stories flout many of the basic premises of fiction itself. . . . What drives them is less the need to tell a story than to evoke--through closely observed, carefully rendered images and free-associative visual memories--physical sensations. . . . His writing feels painterly." --Shoshana Olidort, "The Chicago Tribune"""Ecstatic Cahoots" and "Paper Lantern" confirm Dybek as a virtuoso of the short story--a nimble, compassionate writer who uses precise, lucid, original descriptions. He shows us all we need to know and nothing more." --Valerie Milner, "The San Francisco Chronicle""Here are bold, frankly erotic tales of transporting force--stories so sensual someone, somewhere, must be reading one aloud to a lover on a rumpled hotel bed." --John Freeman, "The Boston Globe"

"To read [Dybek] is to be reminded of the resonance of small moments, the connections that arise and dissipate with the passing power of a thought . . . Again and again, we get a notion of what might have been, of life or narrative going in different ways." --David L. Ulin, "Los Angeles Times""A modern master . . . Dybek is incapable of writing a dull page." --Clarence Brown, "The Seattle Times"

""Paper Lantern" . . . deserves to be read and reread by those who cherish words and all that they evoke when they are carefully strung together." --Kevin Grauke, "philly.com""The nine stories gathered here have appeared, scattered across two decades, in the most prestigious American outlets for short fiction; they make for a remarkably unified and consistent collection. . . . A very fine book from a gifted practitioner of the short story form." --"Publisher's Weekly," starred review

"Paper Lantern" . . . deserves to be read and reread by those who cherish words and all that they evoke when they are carefully strung together.--Kevin Grauke "philly.com "

Not only our most relevant writer, but maybe our best. "Darin Strauss, New York Times Book Review"

What I will remember about these stories . . . [are the] sudden moments that rise up out of a conversation or out of the surface of a mirror, or which suddenly appear, as shocking as being served an entree of predigested seaweed from the beaks of swifts: a little alarming, a little wonderful. "Meg Wolitzer, NPR"

Stuart Dybek's genre-bending short stories flout many of the basic premises of fiction itself. . . . What drives them is less the need to tell a story than to evoke--through closely observed, carefully rendered images and free-associative visual memories--physical sensations. . . . His writing feels painterly. "Shoshana Olidort, The Chicago Tribune"

"Ecstatic Cahoots" and "Paper Lantern" confirm Dybek as a virtuoso of the short story--a nimble, compassionate writer who uses precise, lucid, original descriptions. He shows us all we need to know and nothing more. "Valerie Milner, The San Francisco Chronicle"

Here are bold, frankly erotic tales of transporting force--stories so sensual someone, somewhere, must be reading one aloud to a lover on a rumpled hotel bed. "John Freeman, The Boston Globe"

To read [Dybek] is to be reminded of the resonance of small moments, the connections that arise and dissipate with the passing power of a thought . . . Again and again, we get a notion of what might have been, of life or narrative going in different ways. "David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times"

A modern master . . . Dybek is incapable of writing a dull page. "Clarence Brown, The Seattle Times"

The nine stories gathered here have appeared, scattered across two decades, in the most prestigious American outlets for short fiction; they make for a remarkably unified and consistent collection. . . . A very fine book from a gifted practitioner of the short story form. "Publisher's Weekly, starred review"

"Paper Lantern" . . . deserves to be read and reread by those who cherish words and all that they evoke when they are carefully strung together. Kevin Grauke, "philly.com""

"Not only our most relevant writer, but maybe our best." --Darin Strauss, New York Times Book Review

"What I will remember about these stories . . . [are the] sudden moments that rise up out of a conversation or out of the surface of a mirror, or which suddenly appear, as shocking as being served an entree of predigested seaweed from the beaks of swifts: a little alarming, a little wonderful." --Meg Wolitzer, NPR

"Stuart Dybek's genre-bending short stories flout many of the basic premises of fiction itself. . . . What drives them is less the need to tell a story than to evoke--through closely observed, carefully rendered images and free-associative visual memories--physical sensations. . . . His writing feels painterly." --Shoshana Olidort, The Chicago Tribune

"Ecstatic Cahoots and Paper Lantern confirm Dybek as a virtuoso of the short story--a nimble, compassionate writer who uses precise, lucid, original descriptions. He shows us all we need to know and nothing more." --Valerie Milner, The San Francisco Chronicle

"Here are bold, frankly erotic tales of transporting force--stories so sensual someone, somewhere, must be reading one aloud to a lover on a rumpled hotel bed." --John Freeman, The Boston Globe

"To read [Dybek] is to be reminded of the resonance of small moments, the connections that arise and dissipate with the passing power of a thought . . . Again and again, we get a notion of what might have been, of life or narrative going in different ways." --David L. Ulin, Los Angeles Times

"A modern master . . . Dybek is incapable of writing a dull page." --Clarence Brown, The Seattle Times

"The nine stories gathered here have appeared, scattered across two decades, in the most prestigious American outlets for short fiction; they make for a remarkably unified and consistent collection. . . . A very fine book from a gifted practitioner of the short story form." --Publisher's Weekly, starred review

"Paper Lantern . . . deserves to be read and reread by those who cherish words and all that they evoke when they are carefully strung together." --Kevin Grauke, philly.com