Long admired for her "tough-minded, original, and fully felt short stories (Sheila Ballyntyne, The New York Times Book Review), Amy Hempel takes her art to new heights in her first remarkable novella -- was well as in her latest collection of stories that comment on life's ironies with decidedly offbeat intelligence. "As we read, we learn that to discover meaning in stray pieces of our universe is a happy, curative act....Hempel makes haunting bits of beauty out of motley scraps". -- Adam Begley, People