Charles D'Ambrosio

Charles D'Ambrosio's essay collection Orphans (Clear Cut, 2005) spawned something of a cult following. In the decade since the tiny limited-edition volume sold out its print run, its devotees have pressed it upon their friends, students and colleagues, only to find themselves begging for their copy's safe return. For anyone familiar with D'Ambrosio's writing, this enthusiasm should come as no...

In The Dead Fish Museum, Charles D'Ambrosio delivers eight short stories full of characters who float through their lives and relationships, adrift and apprehensive, tested by failure and strengthened by adversity. The stories are set against a landscape that is both deeply American and unmistakably universal. A son confronts his father's madness and his own hunger for connection on a...