A masterful debut short story collection from the award-winning, critically-acclaimed poet Adam O’Riordan

A masterful debut short story collection from the award-winning, critically-acclaimed poet Adam O’Riordan 'Wonderfully lyrical and bittersweet' OBSERVER 'This is a wonderful, beguiling collection of short stories. Written with a cool, knowing lyricism, they haunt and enthral' WILLIAM BOYD 'An auspicious debut, full of unforgettable lines and hard-won insights. Adam O’Riordan is the real thing' HUGO WILLIAMS _________________________ In these eight stories, an English writer focuses his gaze on America’s West Coast, moving from fractured lives in remote, sun-scorched towns to the charged hum of Venice Beach. A man visits his long-distance lover in Los Angeles and forges an unexpected bond with a fellow traveller on the way; a teenager interviews a businessman for his school newspaper and their paths continue to cross, throughout life; the foreman of a desert building project embarks on a journey down the Pacific Coast Highway and into California’s underworld when his employer's daughter goes missing; a lonely widower reflects on the past and confronts a disturbing and long suppressed memory; a divorced father tries to reconnect with his son on a hunting trip; an artist finds peace in exile after the disintegration of an affair; and itinerant Brits discuss love and acting in downtown LA. Written with an outsider’s keen eye, this collection of stories paints an intimate portrait of diverse lives, in a work of remarkable beauty and poignancy.

"Wonderfully lyrical and bittersweet" - Observer, Fiction to Look out for in 2017

"If LA really is the city with the greatest capacity for loneliness when things unravel, then Adam O'Riordan's misfits provide ideal company the next time you find yourself mooching along the boardwalk ... O'Riordan wilfully mines the less glossy side of LA, and ordinary lives gone wrong, with haunting effect" - GQ

"The loneliness of the long distance traveler whispers through this impressive debut collection ... Plenty of promise" - RTE Guide