Staff Pick
David Hayden's doomsaying fictions are grim bordering on the eschatological, austere glimpses into madness and ruin at the outer reaches of perception. Endless plunges, charred remains, patricidal offspring — a veritable smorgasbord of unpleasantness rendered in blackly alchemized prose awaits. These are distress signals sent from a dying planet, steeped in Beckett and Barthelme, and we'd all do well to heed their calls. Recommended By Justin W., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Driven hypnotically forward by a powerful, deeply felt narrative force, the stories in this debut collection pull off that rare trick of captivating the reader, while twisting the form into truly new shapes. With an imagist's flair for photographic observation and unsettling, often startling, emotional landscapes, Darker With the Lights On introduces a mesmeric new literary talent with seismic potential.
Synopsis
Here are stories to read again and again. Here is language to live in. David Hayden is a serious force."--Sam Lipsyte, author of The Fun Parts
Driven hypnotically forward by a powerful, deeply felt narrative force, the stories in this debut collection pull off that rare trick of captivating the reader, while twisting the form into truly new shapes. With an imagist's flair for photographic observation and unsettling, often startling, emotional landscapes, Darker With the Lights On introduces a mesmeric new literary talent with seismic potential.
Synopsis
Wry, intimate, and startlingly imaginative, the stories in this debut bring a sharpness, and a strangeness, to the everyday.