"We lean closer and closer, eager to catch every last word." said The New York Times Book Review. "Bigger, richer, funnier, and more complex than any description of them can convey," said the San Francisco Chronicle. "Some of the funniest and saddest stories ever to cozy up together," said the Los Angeles Times. Welcome to the short stories of Ron Carlson, where strange beach towels turn up in your living room; where the ordinary son of a family of geniuses spins a rollicking tale of happiness and disappointment; where a teenaged magician seduces the prettiest girl in his high school and the world, with devastating consequences. Long regarded as one of our finest living short story writers, Ron Carlson triumphantly returns with At the Jim Bridger, nine stories that are epic in scope and confessional in tone; stories that enfold the reader in a world of love and mystery, and make us feel better than just about anything written on the page.
"The subtle excellence of these stories makes it easy to lose oneself in them and, more impressively, to recall them later with such clarity and emotion that they seem like one's own memories."
The Philadelphia Inquirer
"Trying to sum up a Ron Carlson story is like trying to hold sparkling spring water in your bare hands--no matter how you cup your fingers, some of the magical stuff leaks out.... At the Jim Bridger shows us a real master at work."
The Seattle Times
"The stories in At the Jim Bridger--eleven exquisite tales of men and women...do the work of true art. Ordinary things, which never before seemed wonderful, suddenly, gracefully, are."
