Orange World

(Paperback)

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Description

From the New York Times bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-shortlisted Karen Russell comes a stunning new story collection that showcases her irresistible gifts of language and imagination 'I loved Orange World... a collection of short stories in which demons live in drains, bog women come back from the dead and trees can grow inside the human body' Daisy Johnson, New Statesman BOOK OF THE YEAR 'A rare combination of literary brilliance and unbridled entertainment' Mark Haddon These exuberant, unforgettable stories showcase Karen Russell's comedic and imaginative talent for creating outlandish predicaments that uncannily mirror our inner lives. In 'The Bad Graft', a couple on a road trip stop in Joshua Tree National Park, where the spirit of a giant tree accidentally infects the young woman, their fates becoming permanently entangled. In 'The Prospectors' two opportunistic young women fleeing the Depression strike out for new territory, but find themselves fighting for their lives. In the brilliant and hilarious title story a new mother desperate to ensure her baby's safety strikes a deal with the devil to protect her baby. Stories of survival, love and of surreal and magnificent transformation show Russell writing at exhilarating new heights. Praise for Orange World- 'The worlds of the stories are entirely convincing, small pockets in which it is possible to become lost' Guardian 'One of our most original short story writers... Russell has impeccable command of her form' New York Times Book Review

Reviews

Superbly crafted...the weird and the outlandish exist side-by-side with everyday concerns... Russell is among the most skilled of this generations fabulist writers. In her surreal worlds, life is passing strange, but it is not devoid of wry comfort -- Nilanjana Roy * Financial Times *
I loved Orange World by Karen Russell, which is a collection of short stories in which demons live in drains, bog women come back from the dead and trees can grow inside the human body -- Daisy Johnson * New Statesman, Books of the Year *
One of our most original short story writers... Russell has impeccable command of her form... Russells particular gift lies in taking themes that are close to universal and presenting them in stories whose strangeness comes to seem entirely natural, even necessary * New York Times Book Review *
A rare combination of literary brilliance and unbridled entertainment
A mesmerising, often hilarious, new collection that embraces survival, love and magnificent transformation -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday, *Books of the Year* *

Author Bio

Karen Russell, a native of Miami, has been featured in the New Yorker's debut fiction issue, was chosen as one of Granta's Best Young American Novelists in 2007, and was named one of New Yorker magazine's 20 Under 40. Her first collection of short stories, St Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves, was longlisted for the Guardian first book award. Her novel, Swamplandia!, was longlisted for the 2011 Orange Prize and shortlisted for the 2012 Pulitzer Prize. Altogether Karen has now won 2 National Magazine awards and had 4 of her stories published in Best American Short Stories. Both Swamplandia! and Vampires in the Lemon Grove have been US bestsellers. And in 2013 Karen won a MacArthur 'Genius' Grant. She lives in Portland, Oregon.