<p/><br></br><p><b> Book Synopsis </b></p></br></br>Ron Carlson is a master of the contemporary short story. In <i>The Blue Box</i>, he extends that mastery to the short short story, offering us a captivating glimpse of a writer at play. With that voice of his--sharp, sensitive, and wry, brimming with good humor--Carlson inhabits one standby after another of the American pop landscape, past and present: monster flicks, action heroes, unsupervised teenagers, blogging. Coming in for special scrutiny is the world of education, in hilarious send-ups of recommendation letters, teacher evaluations, style guides, and a MOOC. Whimsical, wistful, and gently surreal, <i>The Blue Box</i> delights in life's unending absurdities, and reminds us not to take anything--especially ourselves--too seriously.<p/><br></br><p><b> Review Quotes </b></p></br></br><br>"Carlson never drops an extra word or a false phrase."<br><i>--The Washington Post</i> <p/> "Carlson's focus is transporting, absorbing. It shakes you from stupor, strips you down. He understands that most of us live in a world of enervating crap, whether in the cliffs of Idaho or the canyons of the city."<br><i>--Esquire</i> <p/> "Carlson transforms the comic junkpile of America`s waning prosperity into a livable, if harsh, landscape."<br><i>--The Chicago Tribune</i> <p/> "His poems are conversational, extremely accessible, willfully casual and consistently funny, but also laced with a lightly worn sadness, a symptom of everyday heartache."<br> --Ron Padgett <p/> "Carlson's a romantic--even when he's writing about failings, folly and violence."<br><i>--The Los Angeles Times</i> <p/> "Carlson writes about the natural world with convincing authority... with Ron Carlson, you really are in expert hands."<br><i>--The New York Times Book Review</i> <p/> "Carlson captures the ordinary occurrences that define our lives."<br><i>--Publishers Weekly</i><br><p/><br></br><p><b> About the Author </b></p></br></br>Ron Carlson is the author of five story collections and six novels, including <i>Return to Oakpine</i> and <i>The Signal</i>. His fiction has appeared in <i>Harper's</i>, <i>The New Yorker</i>, <i>Playboy</i>, <i>GQ</i>, <i>Best American Short Stories</i>, and <i>The O. Henry Prize Stories</i>. His book of poems, <i>Room Service: Poems, Meditations, Outcries, & Remarks</i>, was published by Red Hen Press in 2012. His book on writing, <i>Ron Carlson Writes a Story</i>, is taught widely. He is the director of the writing program at the University of California at Irvine and lives in Huntington Beach, California.<br>
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