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The first collection of short stories by Jim Shepard - widely regarded to be one of the best living short story writers in America - to be published in the UK

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A fantastic writer - compassionate, funny and fearless´ George Saunders

´One of the US´s finest writers´ according to Joshua Ferris, Jim Shepard now delivers a new collection that spans borders and centuries with unrivalled mastery.

These ten stories ring with voices as diverse as those belonging to Arctic explorers in history´s most nightmarish expedition, the Montgolfier brothers competing to be the first man to fly, and two American frontierswomen whose passionate connection is severed by jealous husbands and a deadly snowstorm.

In each case the personal is the political as these humans, while falling in love or negotiating marital pitfalls or simply coming to terms with their own failings, face the tidal wave of nature´s indifference and cruelty. History has swept them from our sympathy; Jim Shepard has reached into the past and sought them out.

In his first collection to be published in the UK, this celebrated master of the short story displays his formidable acuity in imagining these wildly different worlds, and what our various lives feel like in the grip of catastrophe.

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A fantastic writer - compassionate, funny and fearless . . . inspires us to look more closely at life, and be more caring George Saunders

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Shepard, Jim
Jim Shepard is the National Book Award-finalist and highly acclaimed author of seven novels and five collections of stories, including The Book of Aron and Like You´d Understand, Anyway. He lives in Massachusetts with his family and teaches creative writing at the historic liberal arts establishment Williams College. Widely acclaimed as one of the US´s finest writers, The World to Come is the first collection of his short stories to be published in the UK.

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