Book Description

From New York Times best-selling author Maggie Shipstead, an irresistible collection of short stories--her first--that showcases her sparkling humor, irrepressible intelligence, and glorious affinity for the short form. In this collection of dazzling stories, Maggie Shipstead's prowess in short fiction is on full display for the first time. Diving into eclectic and vivid settings, from an Olympic village to a deathbed in Paris to a Pacific atoll, and illuminating a cast of indelible characters, Shipstead traverses ordinary and unusual realities with cunning, compassion, and wit. In "Acknowledgments," a male novelist reminisces bitterly on the woman who inspired his first novel, attempting to make peace with his humiliations before the book goes to print. In "The Cowboy Tango," spanning decades in the open country of Montana, a triangle of love and self-preservation plays out among an aging rancher called the Otter, his nephew, and a young woman named Sammy who works the horses. In "La Moretta," a couple's honeymoon in the hills of Romania builds ominously into a moment of shattering tragedy. In the title story, a former child actress breaks with her life in a religious cult, narrating with mesmerizing candor a story of vulnerability, loss, and the surrealism of fame. You Have a Friend in 10A is sophisticated, gripping, and hilarious, with knockout after knockout: a collection to seal Shipstead's reputation as a versatile master of fiction.