Ball

Praise for Ball "The women of these short stories sleep with a dying friend's husband, dump a boyfriend for a dog, and feed a sinful uncle to koi in a collection that explores the underbelly of sex, American-style."--O Magazine "Ison's stories blur the boundaries between the imagistic, the realistic, the symbolic, and the psychological."--Slant "Twisted, dark, and wild ... [Ison] is a talented writer who may have slipped under your radar. Be prepared to become obsessed."--Hello Giggles "Each tale in Ison's story collection, seemingly innocuous, delves into a dark examination of inappropriate behavior: affairs, self-mutilation, shocking deaths; no faux pas stone is left unturned. But with her expert writing and willingness to push boundaries the grotesqueness and horrors are bearable, even beautiful."--Marie Claire "[a] captivating and disturbing collection of stories: think Mary Gaitskill or Miranda July, but more demented...Ison's (Rockaway) straightforward style belies a deeper, parallel truth hidden in each story. These stories find a strange sweet spot between the mundane and the horrific. They may shock but they also provoke, with many leading to an unexpected, and not always happy, ending."--Publisher's Weekly Starred Review "Elegant, creepy short stories with a horror-film sensibility...That classic horror-movie elision, from friendly normalcy to nauseating terror, is made by most of these beautifully written, often first-person narratives...Freaky, nasty, highly original, and unforgettable, whether you like it or not."--Kirkus "Each tale in Ison's story collection, seemingly innocuous, delves into a dark examination of inappropriate behavior: affairs, self-mutilation, shocking deaths; no faux pas stone is left unturned. But with her expert writing and willingness to push boundaries the grotesqueness and horrors are bearable, even beautiful."--Marie Claire "Tara Ison's stories locate the pleasure in pain, the victory in betrayal, the beauty in depravity--they walk the line between love and debasement. In the end, Ison's characters are knots of selfish interest and desire, clinging to any warm body as death grows near, achingly human in her portrayal." --Sarah Gerard, author of Binary Star "The stories in Ball take place at the far limits of obsession and desire and lust, exploring the dangers of turning toward the kinds of love we have tried always to refuse. Tara Ison is a fearless writer, and her bravery before the dark urges of the heart thrills on every page."--Matt Bell, author of In the House upon the Dirt between the Lake and the Woods "Tara Ison is the mistress of bad behavior. She divines the beauty in darkness. She twists the familiar--a friendship, an apology--till something fantastic cracks. And she will have you in thrall to her gorgeous language. The stories in Ball are exquisite and harrowing. Must read straight through. Must remember to breathe." --Dylan Landis, author of Rainey Royal Praise for Reeling Through Life: "[B]reathless and impassioned, Ison shows how and when her favorite on-screen characters and stories synchronized with her own life, or, more often than not, failed to do so. It's possible that film buffs may not appreciate her breezy approach to cinematic history, but I found it delightful. Rather than a seminar, Ison's book has the feel of a dinner party, where the hostess tries out voices, does impressions, acts out whole scenes and plots." LA Review of Books "Is that a soundtrack I hear? My reading life this winter has somehow become a ticket to a film-ish book festival. I'm not talking book-to-film adaptations, but works in which movies and Hollywood play a prominent role. The realization hit me while reading Patton Oswalt's wonderful Silver Screen Fiend: Learning About Life from an Addiction to Film, and was confirmed by Tara Ison's Reeling Through Life: How I Learned to L

Tara Ison is the author of the novels The List, A Child Out of Alcatraz, a Finalist for The Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and Rockaway, selected as a "2013 Best Books of Summer" by O Magazine. Her short fiction and essays have appeared in Tin House, The Kenyon Review, Nerve.com, Publishers Weekly, and numerous anthologies. She is the co-author of the cult film "Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead."