One of our favorite writers, who happens to live here in Seattle, Valerie Trueblood this evening celebrates the publication of her newest book, Terrarium: New and Selected Stories (Counterpoint). This, her fourth collection of stories (following Search Party, Marry or Burn, and Criminals) in a body of work that also includes a novel (Seven Loves), should bring ever-more readers to work that has been shortlisted for the PEN/Faulkner and the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Awards.

“A new collection from one of our finest short story writers, preceded by condensed versions of her last three books . . . There are indeed some great stories here, praised for their unsettling combination of empathy and ruthlessness, for their elegant, uncommonly quick development, for their diverse, unexpected subject matter . . . She is still a cleareyed and compassionate reporter of the complexities and contradictions of human nature.” —Kirkus Reviews.