Book Description
In the epigraph to this volume, Penelope Fitzgerald tells us: “If a story begins with finding, it must end with searching,” and so we discover each story here to follow the arc of a search, just as each also contains a rescue. What is immediately apparent is that it will be impossible to guess the form this rescue will take or even who it is who’ll require it.
Instead, the astonishingly talented Valerie Trueblood has imbued each story with its own depth and mystery, so rescue comes as a surprise to the reader, who is in intimate sympathy for the soul in extremity. And these are diverse characters whose fates, in lesser hands, might be thought of as hopeless: the fired cop turned security guard, the stolid, 19–year–old nurses’ aide who will not be going to art school, the cynical radio producer who is dying of breast cancer and on a plane on her way to Lourdes.
In these thirteen stories linked by a common transcendent human genius, the writing is confident and clear and original, and often drop–dead stunning, as if the stories are being told by the most casually eloquent among us.
Praise For This Book
Praise for Search Party24 Books to Pick Up this September – Oprah.com
Best short story collection of the summer – The Guardian
"The diamond–sharp stories in Trueblood's second collection dazzle...Trueblood tells these stories from unusual angles, with precision and a depth of insight and empathy that enfold the reader into the characters' lives." —Publishers Weekly (starred)
"[Trueblood] excels at the vignette. 'Downward Dog,' 'The Stabbed Boy' and 'Street of Dreams' are no more than four pages each, and yet they insinuate themselves with a minimum of detail—they resonate . . . Trueblood is a writer to follow." —Kirkus
"With each story full of wry humor, clearly drawn characters and absolutely exquisite writing, this is one best books of stories I've ever read. Valerie Trueblood's latest collection is united by the theme of earthly redemption: in each someone is saved from what we think of as Fate. Brilliant. Not to be missed." —Jane Vandenburgh
"There are no easy rescues in Trueblood's (Marry or Burn, 2010) newest unflinching story collection, yet characters still struggle to be saved despite the obstacles...she piercingly captures glimpses of salvation that remain just out of reach." —Leah Strauss, Booklist
"For the people of Search Party who are "living those days as secreted away," there seems only more searching. Yet though life is enduringly perilous, they continue to seek the help they believe is coming. For these defiant characters, their very salvation is found in their stories. Trueblood proves herself eminently capable of telling them." – The Dallas Morning News
Spring/Summer short story collection of note – Library Journal
List of eight successful 2013 story collections – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
"Trueblood's last collection, Marry or Burn, turned the topic of women and marriage on its ear, with stories The Rumpus described as bittersweet, mournful and joyful in equal measure. Here she does the same for the idea of redemption. " – Monterey County Weekly
"Stories like "Downward Dog" and "Think Not Bitterly of Me" are finely honed character studies, and though it's not quite right to say it's a "pleasure" to get inside these characters' heads, it's a revelatory experience." – Ron Hogan, Beatrice.com
"In her second collection, the author delivers 13 stories of depth and mystery." – The Columbus Dispatch
"Trueblood's third collection brings together 13 diverse stories of people lost and being found. On paper the characters are seemingly average: Parents, firefighters, travelers, and cancer survivors, but each story unlocks surprising depth...ultimately reminding us that we are all bound by our collective humanity." – Kelsey Thomas, Bustle.com
"One of the best collections I have read in a long time, maybe ever (though her last, MARRY OR BURN, was right up there as well). The one word that I think sums up the collection best is "vast"–– each story is a world complete in itself. " – Siobhan Fallon, author of You Know When the Men Are Gone
