The flat-out perfectly drawn characters in Stories from the Afterlife will stick to me in much the same manner as Richard Ford’s and Raymond Carver’s. Please, please buy this collection if, indeed, you’ve ever contemplated ditching your job to work as a stripper; felt guilty for impregnating the nursemaid; wondered how you’d react in a beer cooler with a pistol in your face; or contemplated holy men in a hardware aisle. Want to know what can happen from a one-night stand? You’ll get this answer, plus. These stories are lyrical, complete, stunning, and unforgettable.
— George Singleton, author of Work Shirts For Madmen
Stories from the Afterlife showcases Dalton’s great skills as a writer as well as her acute understanding of human nature. The intricate patterns she weaves around her characters are rich in detail and history and compassion. Their lives—these stories—are filled with loss and longing and yet they are also triumphant as they shine light on those small victories that allow people to survive. Stories from the Afterlife is a moving and compelling collection.
— Jill McCorkle, author of Creatures of Habit and Carolina Moon
Stories from the Afterlife is a raw, brave collection, punctuated with surprising moments of tenderness and hope. Dalton writes with the eye of an artist and the precision of a poet.
— Valerie Ann Leff, author of Better Homes and Husbands
Quinn Dalton burrows so deeply into the hearts and psyches of her characters that, while reading her work, one has the unshakable feeling that she has rifled through our own secret thoughts, revealing our very own fears and desires. Stories from the Afterlife is jam-packed with Dalton’s brilliance and proves, once again, that she deserves recognition as a master in the realm of contemporary American letters.
— Julianna Baggott, author of Girl Talk and The Madam
