Readers familiar with David Means ' electrifying work in the Los Angeles Times Book Prize -- winning Assorted Fire Eventswill recognize his extraordinary vision in The Secret Goldfish . A trio of erotically charged kids goes on a crime spree in Michigan; a goldfish bears witness to the demise of a Connecticut marriage; and an extremely unlucky man is stalked by lightning. This dazzling new collection reveals Means' rare talent for the short story and establishes his place among the American masters. “Lean, agile…There’s not a cheap emotion or a predictable conclusion to be found...humane [and] unaccountably lovely.” - New York Times Book Review on Assorted Fire Events “A splendid short story collection...from one of the most original writers of short fiction working today - Esquire on Assorted Fire Events “With stunning simplicity, Means offers 15 stirring portraits of tragedy, loss, and love.” - Esquire Achingly intelligent....[David Means] stands among our most gifted younger writers.” - New York Times “David Means knows his way around the English language. [The Secret Goldfish] aims toward a mythology of the modern heartland…so lovely I want to quote the whole thing.” - Los Angeles Times “Vivid…Means’s last collection was a finalist for the National Book Award…the stories here are just as unsentimental and tightly wound.” - New York Times Book Review “A darkly comic cache of stories . . . impressively inventive.” - Elle “An imaginative and penetrating collection.” - Publishers Weekly (starred review) “Means’ stories meld literary influences from diverse traditions: mainstream writers like Alice Munro and Beat voices like Jack Kerouac. Mix in the impact of singer-songwriters like Bob Dylan, and the resulting fiction is uniquely Means’ own-an innovative approach to form, an eerie, somber tone and characters so out of place in American society they seem disposable.” - New York Newsday “Riveting...it is Means’ signature talent to view the lives of his characters, and life itself, from somewhere just beyond...” - Jeffrey Eugenides, author of The Virgin Suicides and Middlesex “Means is a courageous writer, intelligent and funny and humane...the pleasure in reading THE SECRET GOLDFISH is tremendous.” - Donald Antrim Crystalline.” - The New Yorker on Assorted Fire Events “We care for the characters as if we have known and loved and detested them forever…An exceptional book.” - Michael Faber on Assorted Fire Events Readers familiar with David Means ' electrifying work in the Los Angeles Times Book Prize -- winning Assorted Fire Eventswill recognize his extraordinary vision in The Secret Goldfish . A trio of erotically charged kids goes on a crime spree in Michigan; a goldfish bears witness to the demise of a Connecticut marriage; and an extremely unlucky man is stalked by lightning. This dazzling new collection reveals Means' rare talent for the short story and establishes his place among the American masters. David Means is the author of A Quick Kiss of Redemption and The Secret Goldfish . His stories have appeared in The New Yorker , Harper's , Esquire , The O. Henry Prize Stories , and The Best American Short Stories . He lives in Nyack, New York, and teaches at Vassar College. Fiction Crime