FROM THE PUBLISHER
About the Book:
The characters in “The ArchivistsÆ are everyday people, but when private losses or the shocks of history set their worlds reeling, they find connection and liberation in surprising, buoyant ways. Winner of the Grace Paley Prize for Short Fiction, this collection brings transcendence, wry humor, and a touch of the uncanny to life’s absurdities and catastrophes—whether the 2008 economic crash, fallout after the 2016 presidential election, gentrification, pandemic lockdown, illness, or the intergenerational impacts of the Holocaust and Communist occupation of Eastern Europe.
A hardheaded realist is confronted by both her mortality and a would-be wizard. A thirteen-year-old girl in 1950s Toronto infiltrates the ranks of Bell Canada. A ninety-nine-year-old woman appears to be invincible. A group hikes in Germany, and a solitary woman is pursued on a walk in New Mexico. These deeply moving stories ingeniously consider issues of identity, history, and memory and our shared search for meaning in an off-kilter world.
Daphne Kalotay is the author of “Calamity and Other Stories” and the award-winning novels “Russian Winter,” “Sight Reading,” and “Blue Hours.” Her work has been published in more than 20 languages. She teaches at Princeton University’s Lewis Center for the Arts. A.M. Homes is the author most recently of ”The Unfolding.” Her other books include the best-selling memoir “The Mistress’ Daughter”; the novels “This Book Will Save Your Life,” “The End of Alice” and “Jack”; and the short story collections “Days of Awe.” “The Safety of Objects and Things You Should Know.” She also teaches creative writing at The Lewis Center for the Arts.
This event was recorded on April 19, 2023.