One of Elle's "Must-Read Titles for Your Book Club." Chosen by The Millions and Flavorwire as one of the most-anticipated books of 2016. The very short stories of Diane Williams have been aptly called “folk tales that hammer like a nail gun,” and these 40 new ones are sharper than ever. They are unsettling, yes, frequently revelatory, and more often than not downright funny. Not a single moment here is what you might expect. While there is immense pleasure to be found in Williams’s spot-on observations about how we behave in our highest and lowest moments, the heart of the drama beats in the language of American short fiction’s grand master, whose originality, precision, and power bring the familiar into startling and enchanted relief. Beauty, love and vanity itself—A gray pottery head—Cinch—Gulls—To revive a person is no slight thing—Head of a naked girl—Rhapsody breeze—Lavatory—People of the week—The romantic life—The great passion and its context—Specialist—The poet—At a period of exceptional dullness—Head of the big man—Living deluxe—Personal details—Flying things—How blown up—Sigh—There is always a hesitation before turning in a finished job—The mermaid pose—Greed—Clarinda—The skol—The thickening wish—Lamb chops, cod—Of the true and final good—Glimpses of Mrs. Williams—Girl with a pencil—Perform small tasks—With red chair—Try—Removal men—A mere flask poured out—Bang bang on the stair—A little bottle of tears—When I was old and ugly—Palm against palm—Human comb