A wild, inventive ride of a short story collection from a distinctive new American storyteller.
The stories in Thomas Pierceβs Hall of Small Mammals take place at the confluence of the commonplace and the cosmic, the intimate and the infinite. A fossil-hunter, a comedian, a hot- air balloon pilot, parents and children, believers and nonbelievers, the people in these stories are struggling to understand the absurdity and the magnitude of what it means to exist in a family, to exist in the world.
In βShirley Temple Three,β a mother must shoulder her sonβs burdenβa cloned and resurrected wooly mammoth who wreaks havoc on her house, sanity, and faith. In βThe Real Alan Gass,β a physicist in search of a mysterious particle called the βdaisyβ spends her days with her boyfriend, Walker, and her nights with the husband who only exists in the world of her dreams, Alan Gass. Like the daisy particle itselfββforever locked in a curious state of existence and nonexistence, sliding back and forth between the twoββthe stories in Thomas Pierceβs Hall of Small Mammals are exquisite, mysterious, and inextricably connected.
From this enchanting primordial soup, Pierceβs voice emergesβa distinct and charming testament of the New South, melding contemporary concerns with their prehistoric roots to create a hilarious, deeply moving symphony of stories.
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