Eleven glittering stories of love—friendships formed at the airport bar, ex-husbands with benefits, mothers of suspiciously sweet teenagers, ill-advised trysts—in all its forms, both ridiculous and sublime.
Praise for Games and Rituals
The games and rituals performed by Katherine Heiny’s characters range from mischievous to tender: In “Bridesmaid, Revisited,” Marlee, suffering from a laundry and life crisis, wears a massive bridesmaid’s dress to work. In “Twist and Shout,” Erica’s elderly father mistakes his four-thousand-dollar hearing aid for a cashew and eats it. In “Turn Back, Turn Back,” a bedtime story coupled with a receipt for a Starbucks babyccino reveal a struggling actor’s deception. And in “561,” Charlene pays the true price of infidelity and is forced to help her husband’s ex-wife move out of the family home. (“It’s like you’re North Korea and South Korea . . . But would North Korea help South Korea move?”) From one of our most celebrated writers, our bard of waking up in the wrong bed, wearing the wrong shoes, late for the wrong job, but loved by the right people, Heiny has delivered a work of glorious humor and immense kindness.
“With this irresistibly amusing, bighearted collection, Heiny again proves she is a master of the short story form.”
—Kirkus
“I wanted every story to be continued into a long-form novel and parts of my heart are still scattered throughout these perfectly rendered tales of quirks and foibles, damage and redemption, and the things people do just to make it through another day. This book, and the people within its pages, will stay with me forever.”
—Lisa Jewell
“Heiny’s funny and touching collection finds drama and disruption in the everyday… Keen observations put a shine on these everyday comedies.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Heiny’s distinctive story collection portrays varied characters navigating shifts in their lives and relationships, from the disquiet of unrequited love to the shock of infidelity…Characters are faced with uncomfortable realities or consequences of their actions…Poignant and searching, Heiny’s collection strikes emotions and realizations head on.” —Booklist