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On the verge of giving up anchored to dreams that never came true and to people who have long since disappeared from their lives Van Booy's characters walk the streets of these stark and beautiful stories until chance meetings with strangers force them to face responsibility for lives they thought had continued on without them."
About the Author
Simon Van Booy is the author of two novels and two collections of short stories, including The Secret Lives of People in Love and Love Begins in Winter, which won the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. He is the editor of three philosophy books and has written for The New York Times, The Guardian, NPR, and the BBC. His work has been translated into fourteen languages. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter.
Review Quotes
1. "Pitch-perfect.. Convincingly shows how love rights the world." -- Kirkus Reviews
2. "Beautiful...each of these stories has moments of sheer loveliness."--Publishers Weekly
3. "Love Begins in Winter" brings to life the wistfulness of youth and the possibilities of young love with clear and graceful prose."--Jamie Saul, author of Light of Day
4. "Simon Van Booy seems to start with a story in mind and then to turn it into a poem without losing its narrative power. Love Begins in Winter is an exquisite show of force."--Roger Rosenblatt, author of Lapham Rising and Beet
5. "Pitch-perfect.... Convincingly shows how love rights the world."--Kirkus Reviews
6. "The stories of Love Begins in Winter are stylistically brilliant and emotionally beautiful. I found myself gasping, literally gasping, at surprises so perfectly attuned as to be inevitable. Simon Van Booy is an extraordinary writer, and this is a book to be read and reread again and again."--Binnie Kirshenbaum, author of The Scenic Route
7. "Simon Van Booy knows a great deal about the complex longings of the human heart, and he articulates those truths in his stories with pitch-perfect elegance. Love Begins in Winter is a splendid collection, and Van Booy is now a writer on my must-always-read list."--Robert Olen Butler, Pulitizer Prize-winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain and Severance
8. Simon Van Booy knows a great deal about the complex longings of the human heart, and he articulates those truths in his stories with pitch-perfect elegance. Love Begins in Winter is a splendid collection, and Van Booy is now a writer on my must-always-read list. --Robert Olen Butler, Pulitizer Prize-winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain and Severance"
9. Simon Van Booy seems to start with a story in mind and then to turn it into a poem without losing its narrative power. Love Begins in Winter is an exquisite show of force. --Roger Rosenblatt, author of Lapham Rising and Beet"
10. Love Begins in Winter brings to life the wistfulness of youth and the possibilities of young love with clear and graceful prose. --Jamie Saul, author of Light of Day"
11. The stories of Love Begins in Winter are stylistically brilliant and emotionally beautiful. I found myself gasping, literally gasping, at surprises so perfectly attuned as to be inevitable. Simon Van Booy is an extraordinary writer, and this is a book to be read and reread again and again. --Binnie Kirshenbaum, author of The Scenic Route"
12. Pitch-perfect . Convincingly shows how love rights the world. --Kirkus Reviews"
13. Beautiful...each of these stories has moments of sheer loveliness. --Publishers Weekly"
