Echolocation

In these provocative short stories, Karen Hofmann creates characters who struggle to connect, or disconnect from entanglements and relationships. With ironic accuracy and sensuous imagery, Hofmann considers a range of human foibles: a newlywed couple who transform into feral beasts during a research expedition; backbiting faculty members who strip down during a post-conference BBQ; an heretical nun who explores the possibility of a new life by imaginatively excavating the fossils of BC's Burgess Shale; and an ambitious bylaw officer determined to make her mark on the city's streets. In Echolocation , Karen Hofmann sounds the depths of the human heart. Her accomplished stories recall the work of Guy Vanderhaeghe ( Daddy Lenin and Other Stories ) and George Saunders ( Tenth of December ). Part Darwinian, part Ovidian, these are waltzing and desirous tales of transformation, thrumming with verdant light reaching through forest canopies. Hofmann’s characters are strange creatures [...]bumping against one another in the shadows, with cracking voices seeking to connect. And then, when you least expect it, mad leaps from the dark into the light."" -- R.W. Gray, author of Entropic and Crisp 256 pages Publisher: Newest Press (CA) (1 May 2019) Language: English ISBN-10: 1988732565 ISBN-13: 978-1988732565