Short stories by Jess Walter
A former National Book Award finalist and winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award, Jess Walter is the author of seven novels, one book of short stories and one nonfiction book. His work has been translated into 32 languages, and his fiction has been selected three times for Best American Short Stories as well as the Pushcart Prize and Best American Nonrequired Reading. His stories, essays and journalism have appeared in, Harper's, Esquire, Playboy,McSweeney's, Tin House, Ploughshares, the New York Times, the Washington Post and many others.
Walter began his writing career in 1987 as a reporter for his hometown newspaper, The Spokesman-Review. He was a finalist for the 1992 Pulitzer Prize as part of a team covering the shootout and standoff at Ruby Ridge, in Northern Idaho. This became the subject of Walter's first book, Every Knee Shall Bow, in 1995. He has also worked as a screenwriter and has taught graduate creative writing at the University of Iowa, Pacific University, Eastern Washington and Pacific Lutheran.
Listing 5 stories.
Triggered by a fellow addict at a group therapy session, a man finds himself on the streets, in search of anything that will help him feel better.
A depressed barista meets a famous actor at a party. They go back to her place, where he asks personal questions she's not willing to answer.
Sitting at a New York City diner before a Broadway matinee, a middle-aged man bickers with his wife about cancer, step-sons, and lesbians until an eavesdropper's analysis of them allows him to see his life clearly for the first time in a long while.
A young girl unexpectedly finds family in the man who her beautiful but unreliable mother marries.
When two struggling climate scientists meet after a university job interview, their despondency about the state of the world leads to a night of chaos and debauchery, and inspires a newly-out student to follow his heart.