'A powerhouse of a first story collection notable for its temerity and its skilled combination of humour and insight'
New York Times Book Review

The unknowable wisdom of a baby; two teenagers with plans to build a time machine;the unnerving relationship between a man and his dangerous dog; a bumpy reunion between two childhood friends . . . These are stories about how people grow together and pull apart, the strangeness of lives lived at close quarters. Envy, distrust, confidence, collusion, hope - in this remarkable collection, Emily Fridlund delves into the small lies and large truths that make up our lives.

Selected by Ben Marcus as winner of the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction

"An uneasy, but exhilarating, expectation of trouble ahead is manifest in her sharp and exquisite prose" - DAILY MAIL

"One of the most intelligent and poetic novels of the year" - NEW STATESMAN on HISTORY OF WOLVES

"Fridlund is a fine writer and her work is cut through with moments of sparse beauty" - FINANCIAL TIMES on HISTORY OF WOLVES

"Eleven stories of misshapen families and broken friendships disturb and unsettle. Fridlund follows History of Wolves, her marvelous and preternaturally accomplished first novel, with a collection of jarring and polished short fiction. Bracing, often brilliant stories deliver a shock to the routine narratives we tell" - Kirkus reviews (starred review)

"Eleven brilliant short stories showcase childhood, adolescence, marriage, and families, and how the appearances of these events and relationships in life can hide the strangeness and emptiness that pervade beneath the surface. . . . Fridlund unpacks these situations with such thoughtful diction and complex characters that her subdued and controlled language sets what is unsaid at the fore, unveiling hope, despair, and the paradoxes that are often ignored in such close relationships. Fridlund's intelligent and conversational voice impressively manipulates the emotional atmosphere of her stories" - Booklist (starred review)

"

Fridlund's ability to conjure humor in the darkest moments is clear in her blending of sitcom
set-ups with bleak undercurrents. Her breathtaking prose and sly expressions make for compulsive
reading

"Magical . . . Memorable and a joy to read" - Library Journal

"A powerhouse of a first story collection notable for its temerity and its skilled combination of humor and insight . . . this is - seriously - a laugh-out-loud collection as wise as it is funny" - New York Times

"This is a compelling, empathetic and funny look at 'asymmetrical' families, adolescence and ageing." - NEW STATESMAN