How It Was for Me Stories [Paperback]

In the title story of this collection, neighborhood boys crouch in a backyard toolshed, and conspire to prove their piano teachers to be witches. In Cannibal Kings, a disillusioned young man accompanies a troubled boy on a tour of prep schools through the Pacific Northwest, only to realize that he has lost his way in life. And in Come Live With Me And Be My Love, a middle-aged gentleman looks back at his mannered early life as a Ivy Leaguer, married to a vivacious woman but silently yearning for his best friend -- and the sacrifices that each made to uphold their compromising bargain.

With a classic storyteller's gift for nuance and understanding, and a poet's grace for language, Andrew Sean Greer makes a remarkable debut withHow It Was For Me.

Wry and rueful.... Quirky and languorous, [Greer's] style beautifully captures his characters' wistful self-consciousness.... His stories are humane and hopeful in ways that are too rare. John Perry, The San Francisco Chronicle Book Review

Refreshing and provocative...Greer's stories are self-contained and well crafted.... Subtle and poetic. Chris Berdik,The Boston Book Review

[An] impressive debut...There are very few flubbed lines in Greer's stark, delicate opererttas, which are as clever as they are gravely real. Mark Rozzo, Los Angeles Times

Crystal-like clarity...outstanding...nuanced language...Greer is a writer worth watching. Martin Wilson, Austin Chronicle

Impressive...Greer's descriptive talents are immense.... While these stories are thick with melancholy, their frankness is refressing. The New York Times Book Review