MR. BONES
Twenty Stories
A dark and bitingly humorous collection of short stories from the “brilliantly evocative” (Time) Paul Theroux
A family watches in horror as their patriarch transforms into the singing, wise-cracking lead of an old-timey minstrel show. A renowned art collector relishes publicly destroying his most valuable pieces. Two boys stand by helplessly as their father stages an all-consuming war on the raccoons living in the woods around their house. A young artist devotes himself to a wealthy, malicious gossip, knowing that it’s just a matter of time before she turns on him.
In this new collection of short stories,
A dark and bitingly humorous collection of short stories from the “brilliantly evocative” (Time) Paul Theroux
A family watches in horror as their patriarch transforms into the singing, wise-cracking lead of an old-timey minstrel show. A renowned art collector relishes publicly destroying his most valuable pieces. Two boys stand by helplessly as their father stages an all-consuming war on the raccoons living in the woods around their house. A young artist devotes himself to a wealthy, malicious gossip, knowing that it’s just a matter of time before she turns on him.
In this new collection of short stories, acclaimed author Paul Theroux explores the tenuous leadership of the elite and the surprising revenge of the overlooked. He shows us humanity possessed, consumed by its own desire and compulsion, always with his carefully honed eye for detail and the subtle idiosyncrasies that bring his characters to life.
- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Hardcover
- September 2014
- 368 Pages
- 9780544324022
Buy the Book
$14.95
About Paul Theroux
Paul Theroux's highly acclaimed novels include Blinding Light, Hotel Honolulu, My Other Life, Kowloon Tong, and The Mosquito Coast. His travel books include Ghost Train to the Eastern Star, Dark Star Safari, Riding the Iron Rooster, The Great Railway Bazaar, The Old Patagonian Express, and The Happy Isles of Oceania. He lives in Hawaii and on Cape Cod.
Praise
“Theroux’s work is like no one else’s…A writer sees what he sees, imagines what he imagines. Mr. Bones is a series of characteristically dark and sharply focused snapshots from the world that Paul Theroux has observed—and invented.” —Francine Prose, New York Times Book Review
“Beneath the deceptive elegance of these stories, land mines lurk, and Theroux detonates them with gusto.” —O Magazine
“A Theroux story can be a mesmerizing reading experience. It is hard to put him down when he is on a roll…Enticing…[Theroux's] far-flung adventures and captivating accounts from many of the world’s most intriguing, least understood outposts add depth and richness to the material here. This collection is another feast, and many readers will enjoy a prolonged chew on Mr. Bones.” —Associated Press
“A sinister short-story collection from an established master.” —Shelf Awareness