The Sadness of Spirits: Stories Aimee Pogson 9780253050458

What power does misery play in daily life?

In this sorrowful yet intriguing collection of stories, Aimee Pogson explores journeys of suffering through magical realism. A preschool teacher contends with the stream of salmon that keep appearing on her windowsill, in her closet, tucked in her shoes. An invisible boy swallows nails, buttons, and tree bark in a misguided attempt to grow stronger. Spirits cling to a Ouija board, restlessly hoping that someone will remove it from the closet and ask them a question. A young girl who has an existential crisis burns her Barbie dolls at the stake. And a short, dancing man manipulates the melody of molecules in an attempt to bring his loved ones back to life.

While sadness weighs heavy in The Sadness of Spirits, Pogson's writing provokes strong emotions, leaving the reader with hope and admiration as the characters are awakened to the nuance and possibility melancholy can bring.

Aimee Pogson teaches creative writing at Penn State Erie, the Behrend College, where she also serves as an editor of Lake Effect. She received her MFA from Bowling Green State University. She is currently based in Erie, Pennsylvania.

"These fantastic, angelic stories and fairytales are full of astonishing characters and their longing, love, empathy, and strangeness. Each story is perfectly pitched, takes you away and brings you back slightly changed, better, stronger, listening harder."-Deb Olin Unferth, author of Barn 8