The Art of Martinis: More Stories from The Central Valley

By: VanPatten, Bill

"Multiple award-winning author VanPatten returns with a collection of short stories boasting well-developed characters and masterful storytelling." --The US Review of Books

VanPatten returns with another collection of stories from the fictional town of Ma ana in Central California. Weaving a rich tapestry of lives, hopes, and secrets, he plums the depth of the human existence. In the titular story, "The Art of Martinis", the protagonist--a 23-year-old without goals or ambition--meets a man who changes his life in unexpected ways. A five-year-old in "Piano Lesson/s" experiences his first attraction in 1925 Ma ana against the backdrop of class and race. A man facing the crisis of his disintegrating marriage recounts his life while sitting in a therapist's waiting room in "Penguins." An aging woman reflects on her new-found life as a widow in "Coffee with Half-and-Half." These, and other characters, have their lives laid out bare on the pages while VanPatten delivers award-worthy prose.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0DLKLNTN7
• ISBN13: 9798340930446
• Release Date: October 2024
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 226 Pages
• Weight: 0.58 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.3" x 8.0"