Stay Up With Me

"Tom Barbash is a master of the intriguing first sentence: “My son, Rajiv, is sleeping with a student from my Dante class.” “Kistler’s second winter in upstate New York was a season of fires, snowstorms, and deaths.” He writes of a newly single mom who invades her son’s love life during his college break, and of a man just deserted by his wife who hosts their annual party to watch “cloud-sized cartoon characters” being inflated for the Thanksgiving parade. “To Amy!” he calls out drunkenly, realizing he is at the start of the “darkest part of his life.” Barbash’s miniature dramas sparkle with grace and wit."

"I’m reading a short story collection by Tom Barbash called “Stay Up With Me.” It’s not out yet, and probably won’t be for a year or so, but it’s so good."