Out of the Woods Stories

Seven years ago, Chris Offutt made his literary debut withKentucky Straight,a fiercely original collection that earned him not only critical praise but many prestigious awards.The eight new stories inOut of the Woodsmark Offutt's return to the form in which he first displayed his astonishing talent. Offutt, who "draws landscape and constructs dialogue with the eyes and ears of a native son"(The Miami Herald),is on strong home turf here, capturing those who have left the Kentucky hills and long to return. These are stories of gravediggers and drifters, gamblers and truck drivers a long way from home, tales that are so full of hard edges they can't help but tell some hard truths.

Chris Offutt grew up in the Appalachian Mountains of eastern Kentucky and has held more than fifty part-time jobs. For his first three books -- Kentucky Straight, The Same River Twice, and The Good Brother -- he received numerous awards and honors, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Whiting Award. He currently lives in Iowa City, where he is a visiting professor at the Iowa Writers' Workshop.