{"product_id":"tunneling-to-the-center-of-the-earth-stories-9780063041028","title":"Tunneling to the Center of the Earth: Stories","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA debut short story collection in the tradition of writers like Kelly Link, Aimee Bender, and George Saunders--strange, imaginative, and refreshingly original\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e--\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003enow back in print as part of Ecco's \"Art of the Story\" Series, \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e and with a new introduction from the author\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/strong\u003eKevin Wilson's characters inhabit a world that moves seamlessly between the real and the imagined, the mundane and the fantastic. \"Grand Stand-In\" is narrated by an employee of the Nuclear Family Supplemental Provider--a company that supplies \"stand-ins\" for families with deceased, ill, or just plain mean grandparents. And in \"Blowing Up On the Spot,\" a story singled out by Ann Patchett for Ploughshares, a young woman works sorting tiles at a Scrabble factory after her parents have spontaneously combusted. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e Southern gothic at its best, laced with humor and pathos, these wonderfully inventive stories explore the relationship between loss and death and the many ways we try to cope with both.\u003c\/p\u003e--Memphis Commercial Appeal\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Ecco Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 09\/01\/2020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780063041028\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 224\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.90h x 5.30w x 0.60d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAccelerated Reader Quiz #\/Name: \u003c\/b\u003e136785 \/ Tunneling to the Center of the Earth\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReading Level:\u003c\/b\u003e 6.1 \/ \u003cb\u003eInterest Level:\u003c\/b\u003e Upper Grade \/ \u003cb\u003ePoint Value:\u003c\/b\u003e 10\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Kevin Wilson","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36634571505820,"sku":"9780063041028","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_8fe21869-2416-44da-bb5f-fbfd293a8e2e.jpg?v=1603837059","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/tunneling-to-the-center-of-the-earth-stories-9780063041028","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}