num_pages: 256
description: An ATF raid, a moonshot gone wrong, a busload of female cancer victims determined to live life to the fullest—these are the compelling terrains Adam Johnson explores in his electrifying debut collection. A lovesick teenage Cajun girl, a gay Canadian astrophysicist, a teenage sniper on the LAPD payroll, a post-apocalyptic bulletproof-vest salesman—each seeks connection and meaning in landscapes made uncertain by the voids that parents and lovers should fill. With imaginative grace and verbal acuity, Johnson is satirical without being cold, clever without being cloying, and heartbreaking without being sentimental. He shreds the veneer of our media-saturated, self-help society, revealing the lonely isolation that binds us all together.
language: English
title: Emporium
titlecomplete: Emporium
genres: American, Adult, Short Stories, Short Story Collection, Literature, Literary Fiction, Fiction, Science Fiction
ratings_count: 577
awards: awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award
publisher: Penguin Books