The Fat Artist and Other Stories

'Tackling the undercurrents of human frailty - those monsters that lurk in the deep lochs of the American psyche - the stories range from Morocco to Montana, and include the tale of a U.S. congressman who expires during a tryst in a hotel room and the adventures of an addict who lands a job driving a truck full of live squid . . . Dazzling talent.' Daily Mail

'[An] excellent new story collection . . . even [Hale's] oddest stories seem believable, and that's largely due to the care he puts into creating his imperfect, memorable characters . . . Some of them are about to die; some of them have to face up to the long, complicated lives ahead of them. Hale treats all of them with care, and like the flare of a satellite that will one day decay and crash back down to Earth, it's oddly beautiful and impossible to look away from.' Los Angeles Times

'Benjamin Hale writes from an altitude that is entirely his own. The view from up there . . . is also entirely his own. The Fat Artist is a brilliant, ceaselessly engaging book.' Joseph O'Neill