I got this book at a local charity shop for another release copy.

I'm always a little leery about reading books that a favorite author has done cover-blurbs for; been bitten too many times by one of Stephen King's "best new horror writer" pals {wry grin}. But it seems that David Sedaris doesn't give his blurbs away lightly, as so far I've been pleasantly surprised by the books that came with his recommendation. In this case I thoroughly enjoyed the book, though many of the stories do get quite dark and sometimes very disturbing.

Some favorite bits: from Sedaris' introduction: "There are great story writers now but I doubt I'll ever read the same way I did in the 1980s. My brain is not the democracy it once was, and I've developed an attachment to traditional punctuation."

Willett's stories: they reminded me a bit of some of Shirley Jackson's tales, with a hint of Patricia Highsmith (good company, both) - yet these are quite different. There's a funny-to-chilling little tale about marriage called "The Haunting of the Lingards"; the sideways love story "Melinda Falling"; father-and-daughter talking, remembering, denying in "My Father, at the Wheel"; the seriously disturbing "Father of Invention"; the hilarious and twisted "Best of Betty," selections from an advice columnist whose running conversations with her most loyal fans turn very, very strange. [Sample: "Dear Betty: Many years ago you ran a column that started off 'The Other Woman is a sponging parasitic succubus....' I clipped it and kept it magnetized to my freezer, but it finally fell apart. Do you know the one I mean? Would you mind running it again? Sister Sue." (Betty supplies the column as requested, but it turns out it doesn't say what we all thought it was going to say!)]

One of the more Jacksonian/Highsmithian tales is "Justine Laughs at Death," which starts out with a paragraph that seems to be trying to win the Bulwer-Lytton contest: "At 3:00 A.M. the phone rang and rang, extracting him like a stubborn, healthy tooth from the maw of a garish dream, a complicated, garish one with melting scenery, shifting shapes, wheeling, screaming birds." From there the story introduces us to a serial torturer and killer who's just trying to go about his daily business - evil - until he gets a call from an old... acquaintance. As with most of the stories here, things don't go quite the way you think they will.

I donated this book to the ongoing book-sale shelves inside the supermarket. (They sell donated books for low prices, with the proceeds going to local charities.) Hope the buyer enjoys the book!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

** Released for the 2023 Head Shoulders Knees Toes challenge. **