Ted Gilley’s Bliss and Other Short Stories is a collection of nine stories that introduces readers to an edgy vision and a world in which certainties are tested and found wanting. The stories in Bliss all feature characters going about their business, developing relationships, living their lives, and generally aspiring toward happiness, even when faced with violence, unrequited love, deaths of loved ones, and other tragedies.  Gilley is the recent winner of the Prairie Schooner Book Prize.

Bliss, which is Gilley’s first book, has received tons of praise. Kevin O’Kelly of the Boston Globe wrote, “Bliss and Other Stories is a great collection by a gifted writer.” In the review on The Rumpus, Stacy Muszynski said, “[Bliss and Other Short Stories] is as startling as stumbling upon a full, immense moon—scarred white and sharp above the trees—and just as quiet.” Read the full text of the glowing reviews at Boston.com and Rumpus.net.