Fierce Pretty Things, Blue Light Books

This debut story collection from the Tobias Wolff Award–winning author “is streaked with fantasy that deconstructs society’s lost and wasted lives” (Publishers Weekly).

In these eight darkly comic stories, acclaimed author Tom Howard explores the conflicting instincts for tenderness and violence that mark his character’s lives. A brother and sister wander the pier after a deadly plague destroys most of humanity. A high school bully struggles to overcome his demons. A man in the grips of dementia is visited by his children’s ghosts.

The people in these tales grapple with past mistakes, trying to navigate their way toward redemption and resurrection. Though they often fail, they strive with ferocious hearts as their voices guide us through schoolyards, cemeteries, drive-in theaters, and the rich landscapes of their own imaginations.