{"product_id":"9781982104719","title":"This Is Not America : Stories","description":"\u003cstrong\u003eThis Is Not America\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor(s): Jordi Punti\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the acclaimed, prize-winning Catalonian author of the novel \u003ci\u003eLost Luggage, \u003c\/i\u003ea collection of nine masterful short stories about adulthood, heartbreak, and outsiders in search of their place in the world. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs one of Catalonia’s most acclaimed literary talents, Jordi Puntí’s writing is “full of invention and consistently gripping” (\u003ci\u003eThe Times Literary Supplement\u003c\/i\u003e). Now, he returns to his American audience with this breathtaking short story collection. Sharing the title of the David Bowie song, it travels from Spain to America and back, showing the differences between the two places.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eA man recalls a past love as he strolls through the lonely streets of Barcelona. A hitchhiker on the outskirts of the city of Vic carries his secrets in a briefcase. In northern Catalonia, a villager receives letters from a long-estranged brother and grapples with how to respond. Then there’s the man who wants to surprise his wife with a trip to Paris, only to swap it for a solitary cruise.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eShowcasing “the author’s vivid imagination” (\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e), the stories in \u003ci\u003eThis Is Not America \u003c\/i\u003eare effortless evocations of the strangeness of everyday life and the universal search for love and belonging.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eReview(s):\u003cbr\u003e\"Jordi Puntí is not only Catalonia's most important writer, but he is also one of the funniest, most perceptive writers in all of Europe. \u003ci\u003eThis Is Not America \u003c\/i\u003eis a tour-de-force story collection set on both sides of the Atlantic.\" —\u003cb\u003eGary Shteyngart\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \"Jordi Puntí collects lives, at first familiar, suddenly extraordinary. These tales of wild existence, unfolding off the beaten path, capture the rare spirit of a wondrously diverse, privately performed pageant. Puntí is the perfect writer to hold close through these imperfect times.\" —\u003cb\u003eSamantha Hunt\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “An assured collection of stories about men trying to connect with the world through convoluted, excessive means. Their settings might be firmly rooted in the domestic, but the nine stories in Catalan writer Puntí’s collection read as though they are arriving from another world or being broadcast from a chillier, dystopian future... Subversive stories in which the simplest interactions have dark preoccupations roiling underneath.” —\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “Searing short stories... Puntí is unafraid to explore the uncomfortable rifts of his characters’ lives, particularly the lies they tell themselves to embolden or confront their justifications of their situations.” —\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e “An excellent book from a perceptive and unshowy writer... The men Puntí writes about live on the edges, but for the most part, they've put themselves there, and can't figure out how to extract themselves. They chiefly have only themselves to blame for their troubles, although most of them either don't realize it or choose not to. They're maddening characters, and Puntí regards them with sympathy, but never valorizes their usually unfortunate decisions. It's an accomplished book, filled with bone-dry humor and incisive observations about people who desperately need to connect, but have no idea how. It's also a powerful literary reminder that nostalgia and magical thinking both threaten the way we relate to one another, and to ourselves.” —\u003cb\u003eNPR\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Puntí is clever without ever being saccharine, literary in choice of phrase without ever being obtuse—always a joy to read.” —\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Journal of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eISBN:  9781982104719\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e ","brand":"Atria Books","offers":[{"title":"Hardback","offer_id":40592343138510,"sku":"9781982104719","price":25.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0600\/7029\/7806\/products\/O_4236ed49-1d3b-4c5e-bc49-07d32cef4ee2.jpg?v=1637766349","url":"https:\/\/pickwickbookshop.com\/products\/9781982104719","provider":"Pickwick Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}