The Girl of the Lake

Stories
by Bill Roorbach

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Nine richly varied, often funny, always moving stories that reveal the complex workings of the human heart. 
 
Bill Roorbach conjures vivid characters whose layered interior worlds feel at once familiar and extraordinary. He first made his mark as the winner of an O. Henry Prize for the title story of...
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Published By Algonquin Books

Format Paperback

Number Of Pages 256

Publication Date 06/27/2017

ISBN 9781616203320

Dimensions 5.6899999999999995 inches x 8.31 inches


“A stellar collection of stories from one of our best writers. Roorbach's wild imagination combined with his brilliance as a storyteller, his relentless humor, and his tender understanding of humanity make The Girl of the Lake compulsive and essential reading.”
—Lily King, author of Euphoria

“Each meticulously chiseled-down and polished tale contains enough plot, character development, and emotion to fill a novel . . . These stories, with their smart and funny dialogue, characters both wise and fallible, are sure to capture the reader’s imagination, and heart. For fans of Richard Russo and Russell Banks.”
Booklist, starred review

“Bill Roorbach knows so well how to break your heart, how to make you fall in love, how to see you well through both and feel so much the greater human being for it all. What a wonderful writer, what a beautiful book.”
 —Brad Watson, author of Miss Jane

“The ten generous, daring short stories in the new collection by the author of Life Among Giants range from tricky romance to dark comedy to breathtaking adventure . . . Suggests comparisons with Alice Munro . . . Roorbach’s cunningly crafted stories start off ordinary, and then turn magically strange.”
Publishers Weekly

“I am so grateful for the imagination and heart and cleverness and worldliness that went into the making of these stories. Bill Roorbach's is an amazing fictional landscape, vastly unfathomable, also poignantly familiar. This is a terrific book."
 —Antonya Nelson, author of Funny Once
 
“Elegant, assured short stories . . . Roorbach writes in unadorned, vigorous language . . . Readable entertainments that have much to say about the world.”
Kirkus Reviews, starred review