WINNER of the 2020 JAMES STILL AWARD FOR WRITING ABOUT THE APPALACHIAN SOUTH
WINNER of the 2020 WEATHERFORD AWARD FOR FICTION
Croleys solid debut, set mostly in small-town Appalachia, explores masculinity, heartbreak, and isolation in 13 emotional storiesReaders will relish these melancholy stories of everyday and exceptional tragedies. Publishers Weekly
Michael Croleys short story collection Any Other Place finds people in the circumstances theyd do anything to avoid and traces the ties of love, loyalty, and sacrifice that bind them. Croley masters this contradictory tension, turning the phrase any other place into one thats equal parts pride and plea, each informed by a deep intimacyWhether people turn toward each other, turn inward, or keep their gaze on the horizon, these stories examine how, together and apart, everyone is entangled in a battle between I cant lose you and I cant lose myself. Croleys stories are thrilling in the oldest sense of the word. They pierce, boring a hole straight into Fordyces singular, multitudinous heart. Foreword Reviews
"Like the best writers, Michael Croley takes us into the lives of ordinary people who have been thrust into the extraordinary circumstances of everyday life. There is not a wasted word in these thirteen taut and thrilling stories of grief, exile, and devotion. We leave Any Other Place feeling as if we know each of these sharply drawn characters and traveled to their places in the world, all of which Croley presents with startling clarity and complexity. This is one of the most exciting and beautiful story collections to come down the literary pike in a long time and announces a major new talent who infuses every story with emotion that leaves us feeling gut-punched in the best of ways. Any Other Place is a stunner." Silas House, author of Southernmost
"Michael Croleys ANY OTHER PLACE is a story collection of immense power. Croley masterfully gathers disparate worlds through his sympathy and generous grasp. As the characters approach their truths of home, family, and duty, we witness the gorgeous possibility of what ordinary men and women seeklove, acceptance, and forgiveness." Min Jin Lee, author of FREE FOOD FOR MILLIONAIRES and PACHINKO, finalist for the National Book Award.
"Michael Croley shows us the lives most of us inhabitsimple on the surface, with a rich and complicated inner life. His people yearn, fight, and love, make mistakes and gain success, and remain optimistic despite tough circumstances. This book will teach you about humanity and about yourself." Chris Offutt, author of Country Dark
Writing with assurance born of bone-deep knowledge and insight, Michael Croley brings us these taut, brilliant, understated stories from the new global Southeach one occurring in a charged, liminal space, its characters caught at the crossroads of their lives, between countries, between past and present, between conflicting loyalties or desires. Each perfect ending is a surprise, yet perfectly realized, reverberating in the mind long afterward. Any Other Place is a revelation. Lee Smith, author of Dimestore: A Writers Life and The Last Girls
In these thirteen stunning stories, Michael Croley delves deep into the lives of characters undone by grief and betrayal with crystalline compassion and deft surprise. How do we reckon with the troubled legacies we inherit? How do we square our own stark limitations with our desire to create love? Any Other Place is beautifully unafraid of such vast and thorny questions. This magnificent collection is the kind of fiction that will expand your comprehension of the world, a debut that reads with the precision and punch of a writer already in full command of his powers. Laura van den Berg, author of The Third Hotel
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