Wonderful Tricks

by Gregory Spatz

Winner of the Mid-List First Series Award for Short Fiction. The loneliness and awkwardness of single parenting— for the adolescent child and the parent— figure prominently in Spatz's earnest, understated collection of stories. These stories concern love— between father and son, mother and son, and between lovers— and the characters confront a yearning for permanence and perfection in their relationships. They are searching for someone to hold on to, someone to come back for, someone to define for them the nature of love. These stories are geographically diverse, with settings spanning from New England, the Northeast, California, and the Midwest. Each of the stories have been previously published and include "Walking in My Sleep," "Lisa Picking Cockles," and "Plenty of Pools in Texas."

Genres: Short Stories

247 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2002

About the author

GREGORY SPATZ is the author of the novels INUKSHUK (Bellevue Lit. Press, June 2012) FIDDLER'S DREAM and NO ONE BUT US, and of the story collections HALF AS HAPPY (2013) and WONDERFUL TRICKS. His stories have appeared in many publications, including The New Yorker, Glimmer Train Stories, Shenandoah, Epoch, Kenyon Review and New England Review. The recipient of a Michener Fellowship, an Iowa Arts Fellowship, a Washington State Book Award, and an NEA Fellowship in literature, he teaches at Eastern Washington University in Spokane. Spatz plays the fiddle in the twice Juno-nominated bluegrass band John Reischman and the Jaybirds.