Review: The return of Joy Williams
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 26, 2013
Joy Williams is one of my favorite American writers. There's no one out there who writes the sorts of stories she does. This is her first collection in nearly a decade and it is well worth the wait. God is one of the characters here; Kafka, too; a hermit; a housekeeper. There are many more. The Lord of 99 Stories is often befuddled by his creation, which includes such normal American venues as the mall. The Lord goes through a lot of trouble when trying to adopt a turtle. The Lord hangs out with wolves in their den. The Lord also has a tricky time of it with a pharmacist. The Lord's world--the world of Joy Williams--is mysterious and suffused with yearning for a divine place that turns out to be remarkably like this place. What else is there? she seems to say. I doubt I'll read a better collection of stories this year.