{"product_id":"9780812973525","title":"Our Former Lives in Art: Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003eSet against the backdrop of the Deep South, these nine haunting stories explore big themes–authenticity, the relinquishing of childhood, the acceptance of dreams lost–in a way that ultimately affirms the act of living and the value of human relationships. In “Giving Up the Ghost,” a man sits beside a fatal car wreck to share the last moments of a stranger’s life. In “Witnessing,” a young woman befriends her lover’s ailing wife. In “Rapture,” a housewife’s unexpected romantic encounter during a tornado rocks her tidy suburban existence.\u003cbr\u003eHow do we become who we are? And what makes us love one another? With empathy, wit, and beautiful language, Davis blends the real and the imagined to create a kaleidoscope of the human heart.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cu\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eOur Former Lives in Art\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/u\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Davis creates magnificently conflicted characters with low key stylistic panache.” \u003cbr\u003e–\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Davis shares with other southern female short-story writers, such as Flannery O’Connor and Eudora Welty, a sense of relish of the absurdity running through the human condition.” \u003cbr\u003e–\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review) \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A work of deep emotional resonance and acute psychological power\"\u003cbr\u003e–\u003cb\u003eHoliday Reinhorn, author of \u003ci\u003eBig\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003cb\u003eCats \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Jennifer Davis’s stories have a wry sensibility in them, and compassion, a sweet perversity, and a sense of wonder about just being alive. Her tales mark the craziness and sadness of adolescence as it collides inevitably with failed wishes, loss, and sexual desire.” \u003cbr\u003e –\u003cb\u003eLynne Tillman, author of \u003ci\u003eAmerican Genius, A Comedy\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Unusually insightful and gorgeously written, these powerful stories reveal how sometimes the most unexpected discoveries in the present can illuminate the past and change a person forever.  Jennifer Davis is not only an author to watch, she's one to read–now.\" \u003cb\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e–\u003cb\u003eCristina Henriquez, author of \u003ci\u003eCome Together, Fall Apart\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Random House Publishing Group","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47020660883696,"sku":"9780812973525","price":13.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780812973525_p0.jpg?v=1766595739","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780812973525","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}