

“ Loss has infinite meanings in Sarah Pinsker’s second short fiction collection (after Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea), detailing characters’ escapes within and from eerie childhood TV shows (‘Two Truths and a Lie’), the modern liner notes of a song lyrics website (‘Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather’), and silent films (‘A Better Way of Saying’). But there are also stirring tales of rebellion, in which ordinary people escape from confinement, organize their neighbors to protest injustice and speak out against abuses.” Some the stories in Lost Places are unsettling: There are swimming holes that make people disappear, and a sinister version of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood whose host tells stories that warp the fates of the children in his studio audience. Pinsker’s characters always make the best of tricky situations, which only makes their struggles in her topsy-turvy worlds more heartbreaking. As that ‘lost’ in the title suggests, many of these stories involve people who’ve misplaced themselves: in the wilderness, in the fog of dementia, in strange circumstances. Her new collection, Lost Places, puts extremely memorable characters into bewildering situations.

“When it comes to keeping you guessing, Sarah Pinsker is no slouch. Read a story: Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather Her stories span and transcend genre labels, looking for the truth in strange situations from possible futures to impossible pasts.

Nebula and Hugo Award-winning author Sarah Pinsker’s second collection brings together a seemingly eclectic group of stories that unite behind certain themes: her touchstones of music and memory are joined by stories about secret subversions and hidden messages in art, lost routes, last chances.

Latest Eruption of Fiction Into the Universe Lost PlacesĪ new collection from the author of Nebula Award winning A Song for a New Day and Philip K Dick Award winning Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea.Ī half-remembered children’s TV show.
