In their various locales--from Montreal (where a prosthetic leg casts a furious spell on its beholders) to New Mexico (where a Soviet-era exchange student redefines home for his hosts)--the characters in Babylon are coming to terms with life's epiphanies, for good or ill.
They range from the very young who, confronted with their parents' limitations, discover their own resolve, to those facing middle age and its particular indignities, no less determined to assert themselves and shape their destinies. Babylon and Other Stories showcases the wit, humor, and insight that have made Alix Ohlin one of the most admired young writers working today.
“Stories that tease, amuse, trouble, captivate, and offer fleeting comforts with every trembling denouement. . . . Ohlin stakes out the fertile middle ground between traditional realism and the new nod-and-a-wink fabulism.”
—The New York Times Book Review
"Unforgettable. . . . Though many of her characters are suffering, the stories are never maudlin, and the people are sympathetic and real. . . . Passionate and warm."
—San Francisco Chronicle
"With language intensely evocative and keenly focused on the nuances that define each of us as individuals, Ohlin delves into the lives of her characters--even in her shortest pieces--and reveals a depth to them, a poignancy, that is deeply affecting."
—The Baltimore Sun
