We Live in Water

Stories

By: Jess Walter

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Jess Walter

ONE OF PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA’S FAVORITE BOOKS OF 2019

From the New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins, the first collection of short fiction from Jess Walter—a suite of diverse and searching stories about personal struggle and diminished dreams, all of them marked by the wry wit, keen eye, and generosity of spirit that has made him a bookseller and reader favorite

These twelve stories—published over the last five years in Harper’s, The Best American Short Stories, McSweeney’s, Playboy, and other publications—veer from comic tales of love to social satire to suspenseful crime fiction, from hip Portland to once-hip Seattle to never-hip Spokane, from a condemned casino in Las Vegas to a bottomless lake in the dark woods of Idaho. This is a world of lost fathers and redemptive conmen, of meth tweakers on desperate odysseys and men committing suicide by fishing.

We Live in Water is a darkly comic, heartfelt collection of stories from a “ridiculously talented writer” (New York Times), “one of the freshest voices in American literature” (Dallas Morning News).

Insightful stories

Jess Walter is an extremely talented author. This collection offers debut of the characters and insightful stories providing a slice of life that is new to me. The narration is impeccable.

Very dark stories

I love Jess Walter but found most of these stories very dark and depressing. The last story about Spokane read by Jess pretty much explains where his thoughts are these days.

Sad, funny, painfully reality

Beautiful narration, humorous, but such wrenching reality about the poor, disenfranchised, hopelessly lost segment of society that everyone above that level try to forget.

Great stories!

Really drew me in and kept me interested in the characters... Specially cuz I lived in Spokane for a bout!

Such a beautiful collection of short stories!

If you love Jess, pick up this book. He is a word master! I look forward to his next book :)