Portraits of a Few of the People I've Made Cry : Stories

The ten stories in this debut collection examine the perils of love and what it means to live during an era when people will offer themselves, almost unthinkingly, to strangers. Risks and repercussions are never fully weighed. People leap and almost always land on rocky ground. May-December romances flourish in these stories, as do self-doubt and, in most cases, serious regret. Mysterious, dangerous benefactors, dead and living artists, movie stars and college professors, plagiarists, and distinguished foreign novelists are among the many different characters. No one is blameless, but villains are difficult to single out-everyone seemingly bears responsibility for his or her desires and for the outcome of difficult choices so often made hopefully and naively.

The people who orbit around Renn Ivins, an actor of Harrison Ford-like stature—his girlfriends, his children, his ex-wives, those on the periphery—long to experience the glow of his flame. Anna and Will are Renn's grown children, struggling to be authentic versions of themselves in a world where they are seen as less important extensions of their father. They are both drawn to and repelled by the man who overshadows every part of them.

Most of us can imagine the perks of celebrity, but Little Known Facts offers a clear-eyed story of its effects—the fallout of fame and fortune on family members and others who can neither fully embrace nor ignore the superstar in their midst. With Little Known Facts, Christine Sneed emerges as one of the most insightful chroniclers of our celebrity-obsessed age, telling a story of influence and affluence, of forging identity and happiness and a moral compass; the question being, if we could have anything on earth, would we choose correctly?

The people who orbit around actor Renn Ivins long to experience the glow of his flame. His children are both drawn to and repelled by the man who overshadows every part of them. This novel offers a clear-eyed story of the fallout of fame and fortune on family members and others who can neither fully embrace nor ignore the superstar in their midst. Relations Flattering light Meaningful experience The finest medical attention Stolen Gods Unpacked suitcases Notes for this isn't gold A good person Billy, Will, Guillaume Every gift you've ever given Hollywood ending. From the author of Little Known Facts, a striking debut story collection, winner of the Grace Paley Prize in Short Fiction and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize finalist