Publisher's Synopsis
KEY SELLING POINTS
-The Heart Is a Full-Wild Beast will be L'Heureux's final book, the legacy of a life's work. The collection showcases an era in American literary history; and the explorations of morally complex characters by a writer who "let my characters be nasty, commit sin, revel in ugly political stances I don't have.... Characters in fiction deserve the independence and integrity we all think we possess in real life." These stories offer a lens to consider how themes and concerns have evolved in fiction, and what that means for contemporary literature.
-L'Heuruex was a former Jesuit priest, and brings his unique experience to questions of morality and faith that have been explored in fiction by writers like Marilynne Robinson and J. M. Coetzee. He writes with wit and elegance, passion and irony about the modern search for God in stories that entertain, disturb, and surprise.
-L'Heureux's work has been championed by the New Yorker's fiction editor Deborah Treisman. This collection includes several new stories published in the magazine, which mark his return to short fiction after more than two decades (his last collection was the 1990 Comedians).
-L'Heureux taught writing for more than forty years, and was the long-time director of Stanford's creative writing program. Tobias Wolff, Jesmyn Ward, ZZ Packer, David Henry Hwang, Allan Gurganus, and Jeffrey Eugenides are among his former students. A collection that will be celebrated by the generations of writers he mentored, who form part of L'Heureux's enduring legacy as a writer.
