The Secrets of a Fire King: Stories

By Kim Edwards

Book Overview

The characters in these stories are often separated from the mainstream - a juggler and a trapeze artist, a daughter whose mother is a public evangelist waging a wear against sin, a cleaning woman whose life is inexplicably tied to Marie Curie's. The stories they inhabit transcend the barriers of time to explore the universally driving force of our experience: the magnitude of human love. In Spring, Mountain, Sea a young American brings his Korean bride home after serving in the war, and finds himself isolated from both his own culture and the culture of his new family. In Gold a Malaysian rubber tapper becomes obsessed with the possibility of becoming as wealthy as the foreign landowners who visit his village, and in his quest for gold nearly destroys the enduring relationships that have shaped his life. In the title story, the narrator - a fire-eater in a circus - shows a careless disregard for a boy who comes to learn his trade and as a consequence brings about his own downfall. Taking us to exotic and remote places in America, Europe, and Asia, The Secrets of a Fire King is at once magical and profound, marking the extraordinary debut of a new voice in American fiction.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393040267
• ISBN13: 9780393040265
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
• Length: 234 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 1.0" x 6.3"

Customer Reviews

Details are sublime

This book had better writing than "Memory Keeper", and I am shocked at the reviews to the contrary. Highly recommended.

Enchantment and hardship blend in some outstanding surveys.

Kim Edwards' short stories in SECRETS OF A FIRE KING receives actress Bernadette Dunne's fine acting skills and smooth voice as they offer insights on individuals living on the edge of society, from a fire-eater and a juggler to a cleaning woman whose life is entwined with Marie Curie's. Love, enchantment and hardship blend in some outstanding surveys.

An amazing first effort

Kim Edwards is a highly gifted writer with a wonderful grasp of both character and language. While many of her locales are exotic, the characters are very recognizable in their humanity. Some stories made me cry, and others made me want to shake some sense into the characters. This book is an amazing first effort, and I look forward to Ms. Edwards' future works

Fabulous Story Collection

This book is full of a sincere magic and an earthly clarity. The characters' lives are extraordinary and compassionataly rendered -- I have been touched and moved by all their stories. If you love short story collections definitely read this book

Highly recommend!!

Ms. Edwards took me to distance lands and introduced me to wonderful characters through her strong writing style. She left me wanting more!! Thank you, Ki