The Safety of Objects by Am Homes

The Safety of Objects by Am Homes

Originally published in 1990 to wide critical acclaim, this extraordinary first collection of stories by A. M. Homes confronts the real and the surreal on even terms to create a disturbing and sometimes hilarious vision of the American dream. Included here are "Adults Alone," in which a couple drops their kids off at Grandma's and gives themselves over to ten days of Nintendo, porn videos, and crack; "A Real Doll," in which a girl's blond Barbie doll seduces her teenaged brother; and "Looking for Johnny," in which a kidnapped boy, having failed to meet his abductor's expectations, is returned home. These stories, by turns satirical, perverse, unsettling, and utterly believable, expose the dangers of ordinary life even as their characters stay hidden behind the disguises they have so carefully created.

A.M. Homes is the author of The Mistress's Daughter, as well as the novels This Book Will Save Your Life, Music for Torching, The End of Alice, In a Land of Mothers, and Jack, as well as the story collections Days of Awe, The Safety of Objects, and Things You Should Know. She currently resides in New York City.