Orientation and Other Stories

Nine "darkly funny, profoundly compassionate" short stories exploring the nature of loneliness and human interaction in contemporary society ( More). "The stories in Daniel Orozco's debut collection convey a sense of workplace alienation that would make Karl Marx cringe. . . . A treat." — The New York Times Book Review A Kirkus Reviews Best of 2011 Short Story Collections title Breakfast's boiled egg, the overhead hum of fluorescent lights, the midmorning coffee break—daily routines keep the world running. But when people are pushed—by a coworker's taunt, a face-to-face encounter with a woman in free fall form a bridge—cracks appear, revealing alienation, casual cruelty, madness, and above all a simultaneous hunger for and fear of the unknown. Daniel Orozco's Orientation introduces a writer at the height of his powers, whose work invites us to reassess the landscape of American fiction. " Orientation remains a tour de force. . . . There isn't a lemon or an extraneous word in Orozco's nine stories, which boast not just cleverness but complexity, subtlety and range." — San Francisco Chronicle "A gem and a killer. . . . Orozco manages to convey [Henry] James's psychological acuity with one-tenth of his clauses, mingling it with Steven Milhauser's sense of lunatic joy." — The Boston Phoenix "The moment you begin this comparable debut, you'll discover why Daniel Orozco's fans have been shouting his praises for years. . . . This may be Orozco's first collection, but he's nothing short of a master." —Julie Orringer, author of The Invisible Bridge and How to Breathe Underwater