The Thief of Words

by Anthony Bukoski

The Thief of Words is filled with desperate runaways, the unhappily married, and the displaced. They often long for happiness but struggle to explain—even to themselves—what that would entail.

The lightly interconnected stories in this riveting collection are split between the Polish American communities of northern Wisconsin and Louisiana, where refugees from World War II were resettled under the Displaced Persons Act of 1948. The collection explores themes of dislocation and assimilation, love and loneliness, and generational conflict. Anthony Bukoski admirably paints portraits of people doing their best, despite the odds and their sometimes-thwarted attempts to follow the urgings of their better angels.

Filled with humor and pathos and populated by fully realized characters, this is a beautifully written collection from an accomplished storyteller.

184 pages, Paperback

Published May 6, 2025

Reviews

[Vickie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing collection of literary short stories. The opening story, "King Creole," which is nearly a novella, features a woman who fancies herself as Blanche DuBois, and another character Earl Slinker, who fancies himself as the next Elvis. The story has the gritty, intense feel of the movie A Streetcar Named Desire. The title story "The Thief of Words" is my favorite. It's a stunning story of a father's love and his son's uncertainty of that love. While, Anthony Bukoski's collection of stories often capture the lives of the working class, his stories transcend any labels, and the themes in his stories are timeless.

[Marie Zhuikov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of the stories were trippy, most about love and longing, one about accordions. Almost all have a connection to Superior WI.

[Michaela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. I was unfamiliar with Polish migration to the US and their settlement in the South working on sugar cane "plantations".

[Deb · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tough to get through and I couldn’t.