Thirst

This acclaimed short story collection "veers between whimsical postmodern playfulness and a darker realism [with] sophisticated comic flare" ( Publishers Weekly ). Distinguished by black comedy and an international perspective, Ken Kalfus' stories demonstrate the author's chameleon-like ability to change mode, manner, and voice. They often concern the abrupt dislocation of people bumping into different cultures, be they real, hallucinated, dreamed, or desired. Kalfus' characters — which include an endless line of refugees fleeing Sarajevo with no particular destination; an Irish au pair plagued by her own psychosexual fears in a Paris science museum; and an entirely fictitious baseball league — are constantly thumping their heads against a shifting reality. These sympathetic portraits of human beings caught in the tectonic cultural shifts that disrupt our lives are frequently hilarious, consistently touching, and powerfully creative. "A book for people who piss and moan about the unpromising future of American fiction." —David Foster Wallace Distinguished by black comedy and an international perspective, Ken Kalfus' stories frequently fold into each other and are most often about the abrupt dislocation of people bumping into different cultures, be they real, hallucinated, dreamed, or desired. His characters -- which include an endless line of refugees fleeing Sarajevo with no particular destination, an Irish au pair plagued by her own psychosexual fears in a Paris science museum, and an entirely fictitious baseball league -- are constantly thumping their heads against a shifting reality. Kalfus' sympathetic portraits of human beings In "the story collection of the year" (Paper magazine), Ken Kalfus mines a vast terrain of geography and metaphor to create a stunning series of portraits of people caught in the seismic collision of cultures, be they real, hallucinated, dreamed, or desired. With his "magical, transformative, and captivating" (Boston Book Review) mix of fantasy and dark humor, Kalfus has crafted an extraordinary collection that is, by turns, hilarious, mysterious, and touching.