Here Comes Another Lesson: Stories

By Stephen O'Connor

STEPHEN O'CONNOR IS ONE OF TODAY'S MOST GIFTED AND ORIGINAL WRITERS. In Here Comes Another Lesson, O'Connor, whose stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Conjunctions, and many other places, fearlessly depicts a world that no longer quite makes sense. Ranging from the wildly inventive to the vividly realistic, these brilliant stories offer tender portraits of idealists who cannot live according to their own ideals and of lovers baffled by the realities of love.

The story lines are unforgettable: A son is followed home from work by his dead father. God instructs a professor of atheism to disseminate updated Commandments. The Minotaur is awakened to his own humanity by the computer-game-playing "new girl" who has been brought to him for supper. A recently returned veteran longs for the utterly ordinary life he led as a husband and father before being sent to Iraq. An ornithologist, forewarned by a cormorant of the exact minute of his death, struggles to remain alert to beauty and joy.

As playful as it is lyrical, Here Comes Another Lesson celebrates human hopefulness and laments a sane and gentle world that cannot exist.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1439181993
• ISBN13: 9781439181997
• Release Date: August 2010
• Publisher: Free Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.5" x 8.5"

Customer Reviews

BookHounds [...]

The first thing I thought of when I finished reading this collection of short stories was: Twilight Zone. These short vignettes could easily be some of the greatest thirty minutes on television today. The first story is a shining example and probably my favorite in the whole book. A minotaur (yes, the Greek mythological one), finds true love in what is supposed to be his next meal. It truly turned out to be a beauty and the beast type tale that would please any paranormal romance fan. Well, except for the fact that his gamer girl gets away. There are several stories in this collection and here are the ones that truly stood out to me. Aunt Jules -- just sooo creepy, it looks like a normal story, but there is a wicked twist in there. I Think I'm Happier -- this just sums up life in general. Bestiary -- reminds me of my favorite English class. This book is definitely on my keeper shelf since I can reread these stories over and over again to find something new each time. There are some truly touching moments in the book, but all with a strange slant on life.