“Watson renders the human experience with pathos and love.” ―A. M. Homes, author of The Unfolding A posthumous collection of beloved and never-before-read stories from a titan of contemporary Southern fiction. “Here is a generous portion of the work of a swiftly passing lifetime. Bountiful is the deserving page,” Joy Williams writes in her introduction to this astonishing selection of Brad Watson’s published and unpublished stories: “excellent, assured, funny, startling, heartbreaking, wild,“ full of “freakish flair” and “melancholy realism”―stories that give us a “glimpse” of ourselves “so surprising, so varied yet unequivocal, so ruthlessly complete, that it does awaken us in some manner, if not protect or prepare us.” Brad Watson was a master of dark comedy, extraordinary lyricism, appalling grotesquerie, and unabashed vulnerability; a sublime prose stylist whose novels and stories drew upon the fecundity and moodiness of the South. Male meltdown, carrying with it the possibility of being saved by Dolly Parton or some other woman or maybe by animal friends, is a theme, as is young love and its disillusionment, as are strange neighbors who cannot be understood. A leopard that consumes its zookeeper, pronghorn antelope tenderly transporting the poop of their young, insufferably articulate birds and restless, tolerant dogs―this is also eco-fiction of a very peculiar sort, in which nature reassures, transcends, and finally escapes judging or being judged by us. Roller-coastering from the mournful to the comical (sometimes in the same paragraph), Watson’s work is both embedded in a literary heritage tied to place and at home in a universal literature of the absurd. His stories waltz with lovely and strange melancholy, infused with wit and astonishing beauty. There Is Happiness embodies the twisted hilarity and undeniable grace of an underrecognized literary genius. "Watson refreshes and destabilizes the Southern literary traditions.… He does not pander and is never just playing the hits." ― Justin Taylor, Washington Post "[A] wonderful collection.… These are writings of soulful absurdity that at times verge into performance art." ― Sam Sacks, Wall Street Journal "[Brad Watson was] a towering figure of American literature.… There Is Happiness proves that Watson’s later work stands up to his best work, too." ― Bethanne Patrick, Los Angeles Times "A Rosetta stone to that Rosetta stone of Southern literature.… A countrified Rumpelstiltskin, Brad Watson spun gold from the haystacks." ― Snowden Wright, Literary Hub "One of the most gifted and underappreciated American fiction writers of the last half-century, Brad was a master of style and form, but he was also a terrific storyteller and just plain fun to read.… For readers new to Brad Watson’s work, There Is Happiness is a perfect introduction, a greatest hits album with a few unreleased singles which hint at the great work that was yet to come but for the cruelty of fate." ― Ed Tarkington, Chapter 16 "Watson’s stories are earthy and lyrical; highly imagined, they sometimes partake of the supernatural and fantastic, contain heartbreaking miseries, but the writing is brilliant, sympathetic, and thrilling." ― Don Noble, Alabama Public Radio "What sets Brad Watson’s work apart from his contemporaries is a singular strangeness. The world we know is always present, yet it is widened into something more wonderous, more heartfelt, and we find ourselves elevated into the sublime." ― Ron Rash, author of The Caretaker "Brad Watson’s remarkable talent truly shines in short fiction. It’s hard to know which element is strongest?his bold inventiveness for story or the deep compassion he brings to his characters. As I read these wonderful stories, I often stopped to reread sentences, stricken by awe at his glittering prose. For those people already familiar with Brad Watson’s work, you are in for a wonderful treat. If you’re new to his work, I envy you for the many books ahead of you to revel in." ― Chris Offutt, author of Code of the Hills "A brilliant short story writer, Brad Watson could write breathless, comic scenes, or dreamy hallucinations, or glowering repartee; and he could surprise a reader with sudden breaks into the supernatural. He was as good at delivering riveting bursts of menace as he was at alleviating that menace with moments of transcendent beauty. Watson was always pursuing the mysteries of what it means to be human in the world; in There Is Happiness , his singular, beautiful voice lives on." ― Anthony Doerr, author of Cloud Cuckoo Land "If Raymond Carver and Flannery O’Connor had a one-night stand?their spawn would be Brad Watson. His stories are as artful as they are unnerving. Watson renders the human experience with pathos and love. His work is singular, and essential in our understanding of who we are and where we have come from. His early departure from this world leaves us aching for more." ― A