Katherine Heiny is back with Games and Rituals, a delightful bundle of offbeat dramedy fiction. Heiny grabs readers from the jump… “Chicken-Flavored” sets a precedent that carries on throughout the collection, making the ordinary extraordinary while saying just the right things to elicit a surprised but delighted snort.”
–Associated Press
“From the author of Standard Deviation comes this charming collection of stories of everything from airport bar friendships to ex-husbands to hearing aids.”
–The New York Post
“Much of the world spent a year or two or three enclosed with the people we were supposed to be most intimate with. It seems only natural then that the interest now would be to put those relationships under scrutiny. Heiny’s new story collection tests the limits of these relationships over and over again, challenging the institutions of family and marriage… Heiny captures the domestic tension perfectly.”
–Chicago Review of Books
“The opportunity to read a new short story by Katherine Heiny always fills me with delight. I know I’m going to laugh; I know I’m going to be slightly shocked by a deliciously inappropriate joke or line of dialogue; I know I’m going to laugh some more; and I know I’ll probably have my heart broken just a little bit.”
–Jennifer Close, Electric Literature
“Unlikely bedfellows, cherished companions, and makeshift collectives are some of Heiny’s literary hallmarks, and for lovers of short fiction, it is pleasant to think of collections as comprising their own kinds of communities, even families, each story a cousin to the next, floating around in a gene pool of sorts.”
–Washington City Paper
“Charmingly amusing stories… What’s so funny? Most of Games takes place in everyday landscapes, among middle and upper-middle class Anglo types – not always a fertile scene to explore. (Well recently, especially? This is not the wokest of crowds!) However, Heiny has a knack for making lemonade out of lemons; these tales tend to run away with themselves, and you won’t find yourself poorer for it.”
–The Arts Fuse
"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
"Games and Rituals, full of relatably weird characters discovering their self-deceptions, proves her to be the most pleasurable architect of the short story form writing today… Her radar for people’s eccentricities is exquisite."
—Jessie Thompson, Independent
"Heiny has an amazing ability to give you a picture of someone’s life in a snatch of dialogue and an anecdote…hilarious…These are the perfect phrases – funny and recognisable and a tiny bit melancholy– that Heiny can apparently turn out by the dozen…I could quote 50 lines that I noted, and still not get to the end of the joys of Heiny’s writing style – a voice “like glass beads rolling on a snare drum” and the perfect conversational couple: “he can’t hear and she doesn’t listen”. It’s possible Heiny thinks of herself as primarily a short story writer; her true fans know better and need another novel. But in the meantime, this very funny collection, with its razor-sharp observations on life, will do to keep readers happy."
—Moira Redmond, iNEWS
"Witty, astute and delightfully accessible."
—Lucy Atkins, Sunday Times
"Heiny has the comic writer’s knack of taking a character’s idiosyncrasies (…) and making them joyfully relatable. (And she can say more in a pithy parenthesis than many writers manage in a page.) She has a genius for spinning universality out of the absurdly specific."
—Lisa Allardice, Guardian
"Finding a new book by Katherine Heiny is a like discovering a Wodehouse you haven’t read or a Raymond Chandler. You pretty much know what you are going to get and that’s the very reason your spirits perform a happy little jig as you press 'buy now' …. Superb ... as near perfection as, say, Donald Trump is far from it… Heiny is habitually congratulated for writing feelgood stories, but if these pointed, satirical, emotionally ruthless takes on humanity merely made me feel good, I wouldn’t value them half as much. If you spot a new Heiny story anywhere, do email me."
—Andrew Billen, The Times
"For any reader yet to encounter Katherine Heiny, this sparky new story collection provides a joyous introduction....The deadpan delivery, the bittersweet wisdom, the sublime farce – it’s all here."
—Hephizbah Anderson, Observer
"Anyone who has read any of Heiny’s previous work will know she has a knack for capturing all the vicissitudes of love in a way that few other writers can. Games and Rituals is no different, bringing the minutiae of our everyday interactions to life with humour and clarity."
—Anna Bonet, iNEWS
"Short stories sometimes leave you wanting more but each one in this collection is as satisfying as any novel… All human life is here and Heiny exposes its complexity with wit and poignancy."
—Joanne Finney, Good Housekeeping
"I’m a devoted fan of Katherine Heiny. I’ve foisted her wonderful novel Standard Deviation on so many people and this collection of short stories is destined for the same treatment. I can’t think of another writer who manages to gets so under the skin of her characters....These might be short stories but each one contains multitudes."
—Sarra Manning, Red Magazine
"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
"Heiny's distinctive story collection portrays varied characters navigating shifts in their lives and relationships, from the disquiet of unrequited love to the shockof infidelity....Poignant and searching, Heiney’s collection strikes emotions and realizations head on."
—Booklist
“Heiny keeps a fine and appreciated balance in her exploration of human foibles ripe with the humorous, cringy, self-compromising situations life presents… showing that life is awkward and is also strangely sweet and can offer little moments of reprieve, joy, and camaraderie, sometimes in the places and people we least expect… Honest stories generous in their portrayal of how all are just trying to connect.”
–Library Journal
02/20/2023
Heiny’s funny and touching collection (after Early Morning Riser) finds drama and disruption in the everyday. “Chicken-Flavored and Lemon-Scented” follows a DMV driving examiner who crushes on a coworker, then makes a shocking choice after she’s rejected. In “Turn Back, Turn Back,” a woman’s delicate balancing of her career, motherhood, and her marriage is undone by a strange charge on her credit card. The clever title story, broken down into vignettes, centers on a young woman who makes up games to play with her friends and boyfriend. One, “The Relationship Game,” involves people-watching on the subway and speculating about the lives of strangers. “CobRa,” an unsettling riff on the Marie Kondo craze, portrays a man’s growing anxiety during his wife’s enthusiastic decluttering, which prompts him to fear he no longer makes her happy and “she would give him to Goodwill.” The sharp “Bridesmaid, Revisited” examines the reasons behind a woman’s choice to wear an outrageous bridesmaid dress to work. There are a few misses, such as “Sky Bar,” which runs on contrivances involving two women whose flights are delayed during a snowstorm and the men who pick them up. For the most part, Heiny’s keen observations put a shine on these everyday comedies. Agent: Kimberly Witherspoon, InkWell Management. (Apr.)
03/31/2023
Heiny's new collection (after her novel Early Morning Riser) offers vignettes of people bumping into and falling away from one another, of accidental intimacies and casual disregards. Each story gives a fresh opportunity to slip into another's slightly uncomfortable skin. Moments of quiet, tenuous tenderness lean against others sharper and less generous. Heiny keeps a fine and appreciated balance in her exploration of human foibles ripe with the humorous, cringy, self-compromising situations life presents, as when a flustered young woman wears a bridesmaid's dress to work and another helps her husband's ex-wife move. The characters are imperfect yet worthy of attention and affection, if not love, and Heiny never belittles or judges them. But they find ways to carry their aches and regrets and move on, showing that life is awkward and is also strangely sweet and can offer little moments of reprieve, joy, and camaraderie, sometimes in the places and people we least expect. VERDICT Heiny seems to have a little soft spot for her fellow humans, writing honest stories generous in their portrayal of how all are just trying to connect while protecting themselves and searching for some comfort in a complicated world.—Laura Florence
Five narrators shape ordinary people and circumstances into an extraordinary listening experience. Rebecca Lowman, Cassandra Campbell, Kimberly Wetherell, Kate Rudd, and Jeremy Parker each narrate a few of these stories, tapping into their characters with insights that highlight the humor and pathos in everyday life. A co-worker falls for the new guy; a woman has to return home to care for an aging parent; a couple help an ex-wife move; a delayed flight forces an unlikely bond between strangers. Each story is relatable yet often spins something new into the mix. Such personal attention by the narrators evokes a sense of intimacy that leaves an imprint on the mind and the heart. L.M.G. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Five narrators shape ordinary people and circumstances into an extraordinary listening experience. Rebecca Lowman, Cassandra Campbell, Kimberly Wetherell, Kate Rudd, and Jeremy Parker each narrate a few of these stories, tapping into their characters with insights that highlight the humor and pathos in everyday life. A co-worker falls for the new guy; a woman has to return home to care for an aging parent; a couple help an ex-wife move; a delayed flight forces an unlikely bond between strangers. Each story is relatable yet often spins something new into the mix. Such personal attention by the narrators evokes a sense of intimacy that leaves an imprint on the mind and the heart. L.M.G. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
★ 2023-02-08
Eleven stories exploring love, relationships, and occasionally regrettable behavior.
After having written two novels focusing on lovably quirky young women—Standard Deviation (2017) and Early Morning Riser (2021)—Heiny returns to the short story format in which she distinguished herself with her debut, Single, Carefree, Mellow (2015). Here again, 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. In “Chicken-Flavored and Lemon-Scented,” which captures the curiosities of office culture, driving examiner Colette falls for a handsome co-worker. “Damascus” tells the story of Mia and her teenage son, Gordey, whom she suspects of drug use despite his “kind and gentle nature,” exploring the complicated terrain of motherhood and maturity. “Twist and Shout” begins with Ericka’s cranky elderly father confusing “his four-thousand-dollar hearing aid for a cashew” and eating it—“He’s not even supposed to be eating cashews! He has high blood pressure!” she laments—and ends with a breathtaking twist. And “CobRa” tracks the response of William, a middle-aged stockbroker, to Rachel, his wife, as, on the brink of empty-nesthood, she single-mindedly declutters their family home—à la tidiness maven Marie Kondo—in pursuit of life-changing magic. “This was not the beginning of William’s realizing he no longer sparked joy,” Heiny writes, “but a continuation.” For anyone who has similarly fallen under Kondo’s spell and spent weeks shedding possessions and folding T-shirts into adorable little packets, this story will spark immediate recognition. And 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.
