Perfect for readers of George Saunders, Karen Russell, Neil Gaiman, and Aimee Bender, "Magic for Beginners "is an exquisite, dreamlike dispatch from a virtuoso storyteller who can do seemingly anything. Kelly Link reconstructs modern life through an intoxicating prism, conjuring up unforgettable worlds with humor and humanity.""These stories are at once ingenious and deeply moving. They leave the reader astonished and exhilarated.
Includes an exclusive conversation between Kelly Link and Joe Hill
Praise for "Magic for Beginners"
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"A sorceress to be reckoned with."--"The New York Times Book Review"
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" Kelly] Link's stories . . . play in a place few writers go, a netherworld between literature and fantasy, Alice Munro and J. K. Rowling, and Link finds truths there that most authors wouldn't dare touch."--Lev Grossman, "Time"
"She is unique and should be declared a national treasure."--Neil Gaiman
"Funny, scary, surprising and powerfully moving within the span of a single story or even a single sentence."--Karen Russell, "The Miami Herald"
"This is what certain readers live for: fiction that makes the world instead of merely mimicking it."--Audrey Niffenegger
" These] exquisite stories mix the aggravations and epiphanies of everyday life with the stuff that legends, dreams and nightmares are made of."--Laura Miller, "Salon, "Best Books of the Decade
"A major talent . . . Like George Saunders, Link] can't dismiss the hidden things that tap on our windows at night."--"The Boston Globe"
"The most darkly playful voice in American fiction."--Michael Chabon
"I think she is the most impressive writer of her generation."--Peter Straub
"Link's world is one to savor. Grade: ] A"--"Entertainment Weekly "
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"Intricate, wildly imaginative and totally wonderful . . . will fill you with awe and joy."--NPR

Amusing, touching, and unsettling, The Melancholy of Anatomy is that most wonderful of fictions, one that makes us see the world in an entirely new light.

Here is the body turned inside out, its members set free, its humors released upon the world. Hearts bigger than planets devour light and warp the space around them; the city of London has a menstrual flow that gushes through its underground pipes; gobs of phlegm cement friendships and sexual relationships; and a floating fetus larger than a human becomes the new town pastor. In this debut story collection, Shelley Jackson rewrites our private passages, and translates the dumb show of the body into prose as gorgeous as it is unhygienic.

Nora and Blanche are conjoined twins. Nora is strong, funny, and deeply independent, thirsting for love and adventure. Blanche, by contrast, has been asleep for twenty years. Sick of carrying her sister's dead weight, Nora wants her other half gone for good--a desire that takes her from San Francisco to London in search of the Unity Foundation, a mysterious organization that promises to make two one. But once in England, Nora's past begins to surface in surprising and disturbing ways, pushing her to the brink of insanity and forcing her to question her own--and Blanche's--grip on the truth.