Magic for Beginners - by Kelly Link (Paperback)

About the Book

Cult favorite Link unfurls a second engaging, funny, and magical selection of stories, with riffs on marriage, cannons, convenience stories, superheroes, zombies, and apocalyptic poker parties. Illustrations.

Book Synopsis

From MacArthur "Genius Grant" fellow Kelly Link, bestselling author of White Cat, Black Dog and The Book of Love, an "eerie and engrossing" (The Washington Post), "dazzling" (The New York Times Book Review) collection of short stories

"[These] exquisite stories mix the aggravations and epiphanies of everyday life with the stuff that legends, dreams and nightmares are made of."--Laura Miller, Salon, "Best Books of the Decade"

LOCUS AWARD WINNER - A TIME AND SEATTLE TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

One of the most critically acclaimed collections of our time, Magic for Beginners is an exquisite, dreamlike dispatch from a virtuoso storyteller who can do seemingly anything. Kelly Link reconstructs modern life through an intoxicating prism, conjuring up unforgettable worlds with humor and humanity. These stories are at once ingenious and deeply moving. They leave the reader astonished and exhilarated.

Includes an exclusive conversation between Kelly Link and Joe Hill

Review Quotes

"A sorceress to be reckoned with."--The New York Times Book Review

"[Kelly] Link's stories . . . play in a place few writers go, a netherworld between literature and fantasy, Alice Munro and J. K. Rowling, and Link finds truths there that most authors wouldn't dare touch."--Lev Grossman, Time

"She is a sorcerer. She is our greatest living fabulist."--Carmen Maria Machado

"Funny, scary, surprising and powerfully moving within the span of a single story or even a single sentence."--Karen Russell, The Miami Herald

"This is what certain readers live for: fiction that makes the world instead of merely mimicking it."--Audrey Niffenegger

"[These] exquisite stories mix the aggravations and epiphanies of everyday life with the stuff that legends, dreams and nightmares are made of."--Laura Miller, Salon, Best Books of the Decade

"A major talent . . . Like George Saunders, [Link] can't dismiss the hidden things that tap on our windows at night."--The Boston Globe

"The most darkly playful voice in American fiction."--Michael Chabon

"I think she is the most impressive writer of her generation."--Peter Straub

"Link's world is one to savor. [Grade: ] A"--Entertainment Weekly

"Intricate, wildly imaginative and totally wonderful . . . will fill you with awe and joy."--NPR

About the Author

MacArthur "Genius Grant" fellow Kelly Link is the author of the collections Get in Trouble, Stranger Things Happen, Magic for Beginners, and Pretty Monsters. She and Gavin J. Grant have co-edited a number of anthologies, including multiple volumes of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror and, for young adults, Monstrous Affections. She is the co-founder of Small Beer Press. Her short stories have been published in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, The Best American Short Stories, and Prize Stories: The O. Henry Awards. She hasalso received a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts. Link was born in Miami, Florida. She currently lives with her husband and daughter in Northampton, Massachusetts.