Fugitive Daydreams - by Leah McCormack (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Blending elements of fiction and nonfiction, Fugitive Daydreams dares to challenge the boundaries of the short story by blurring the lines between convention and experimentation. Leah McCormack's debut collection features a house as alive as its inhabitants, a mother dealing with multiple sclerosis and dementia, a pair of conjoined twins getting separated, dysfunctional families struggling with expectations and middle-class realities, and a writer pushing against gendered aggression. With power and stylistic inventiveness, McCormack embraces the absurd while refusing to look away from painful truths.

Review Quotes

"McCormack's stories do nothing to protect anyone-especially the writer herself, and she is a writer, and a good one."

-Pete Dexter, author of Paris Trout, National Book Award winner

"I love the restless energy of this collection, and I admire its perfect fusion of urgency and playfulness."

-Chris Bachelder, author of The Throwback Special, National Book Award finalist

"Fugitive Daydreams is an important and beautifully written book."

-Patrick O'Keefe, author of The Visitors and The Hill Road, Story Prize winner

"By turns furious, melancholy, and tender, these stories are gems."

-Leah Stewart, author of What You Don't Know About Charlie Outlaw

"A remarkable, and remarkably brave, first book."

-Brock Clarke, author of Who Are You, Calvin Bledsoe?