This Month's Theme:
Long Days, Short Stories

This month features an engaging collection of short stories by authors Kim Edwards, Crystal Wlkinson, Mary Ann Taylor-Hall, Joe Ashby Porter, and ZZ Packer.

In this masterful short story collection, the Kentucky native creates a world that is alternately funny, startling, and intense. From "The Man Who Wanted to Buy a Cat," an amusing account of man's obsession with his neighbor's pet, to the title story, "Touch Wood," which traces the influence of a fictional story on fictional lives, these tales—couched in language at once beautiful and strange—charm the reader with their improbable blend of realism and fantasy.

Touch Wood is Porter's fifth work of fiction. His first short story collection, The Kentucky Stories, was nominated for a Pulitzer; his other books include Lithuania: Short Stories and the novels Eelgrass and Resident Aliens. The son of a Madisonville coal miner, Porter attended Harvard and Berkeley and studied at Oxford as a Fulbright Scholar. In his other life—as Professor Joseph A. Porter—he is a widely published Shakespearean scholar who serves as the associate chair of English at Duke University.

Books for June »