The Other World by Richard Hawley (US Orders)

Just in time for the holidays, Short Story America is proud to introduce a superb new collection of short stories: THE OTHER WORLD, by Richard Hawley (author of the 1983 classic award-winning novel, THE HEADMASTER'S PAPERS, among many books of fiction, non-fiction, poetry and essays). THE OTHER WORLD is a collection which also works brilliantly as a novel, and is as good a work of literary fiction as you will find today. These brilliant and poignant tales are told by the main character, Jonathan Force, beginning with the story "Born Into Christmas," and ranging chronologically from Jonathan's birth to childhood, adolescence, his middle and high school years, and finally on the verge of going to college, revealing along the way a boy who is caught in the conflict, as so many are, between the yearning for a world which he feels born to explore and the world which others expect him to dutifully inhabit. Blake Bailey, author of CHEEVER: A LIFE, writes: "Richard Hawley explores, with eloquence and sensitivity, the secret lives of children and the unexpected moments that linger in memory and give shape to our souls. A stunning collection." Ann Hood, author of THE OBITUARY WRITER, calls THE OTHER WORLD "both a tender and harsh coming-of-age story." As John Irving writes of the author, "Richard Hawley has the poise and vision to create an entire world."