Games and Rituals

Stories

By: Katherine Heiny

Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman, Cassandra Campbell, Kimberly M. Wetherell, Kate Rudd, Jeremy Carlisle Parker

AN OPRAH DAILY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • The beloved author of Early Morning Riser brings us glittering stories of love—friendships formed at the airport bar, ex-husbands with benefits, mothers of suspiciously sweet teenagers, ill-advised trysts—in all its forms, both ridiculous and sublime.

"Parts of my heart are still scattered throughout these perfectly rendered tales.”—Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Then She Was Gone

The games and rituals performed by Katherine Heiny’s characters range from mischievous to tender: In “Bridesmaid, Revisited,” Marlee, suffering from a laundry and life crisis, wears a massive bridesmaid’s dress to work. In “Twist and Shout,” Erica’s elderly father mistakes his four-thousand-dollar hearing aid for a cashew and eats it. In “Turn Back, Turn Back,” a bedtime story coupled with a receipt for a Starbucks babyccino reveal a struggling actor’s deception. And in “561,” Charlene pays the true price of infidelity and is forced to help her husband’s ex-wife move out of the family home. (“It’s like you’re North Korea and South Korea . . . But would North Korea help South Korea move?”)

Katherine Heiny, one of our most celebrated writers, our bard of waking up in the wrong bed, wearing the wrong shoes, running late for the wrong job, but loved by the right people, has delivered a collection of glorious humour and immense kindness.

©2023 Katherine Heiny (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"I already loved Katherine Heiny, but this exquisite collection of short stories puts her firmly in my top ten favourite writers of all time. Her ability to throw a character into three fully-alive dimensions within half a paragraph is astounding and possibly unparalleled. I wanted every story to be continued into a long-form novel and parts of my heart are still scattered throughout these perfectly rendered tales of quirks and foibles, damage and redemption and the things people do just to make it through another day. This book, and the people within its pages, will stay with me forever." —Lisa Jewell, #1 New York Times best-selling author of Then She Was Gone

"Heiny approaches her disarmingly charming characters with tenderness, empathy, and humor, even (perhaps, especially) when they meander outside the bounds of good behavior. Lighthearted and amusing yet deeply resonant, these stories offer sly insights about human connection and can, in the space of a single sentence, take your breath away....For Heiny fans and those just discovering her naughty, generous-spirited fiction, this collection is bound to spark considerable joy. It’s a keeper. With this irresistibly amusing, bighearted collection, Heiny again proves she is a master of the short story form." —Kirkus, starred review

"Heiny’s funny and touching collection...finds drama and disruption in the everyday....The clever title story, broken down into vignettes, centers on a young woman who makes up games to play with her friends and boyfriend....Heiny’s keen observations put a shine on these everyday comedies." —Publishers Weekly