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A definitive collection of new and selected stories by a master of the form. "Comparisons might be drawn to writers ranging from Jorge Luis Borges and Haruki Murakami to Margaret Atwood and J. D. Salinger. All of Lethem''s stories are enlivened by his wit and provocative wordplay" ( Chicago Tribune ). This dazzling, genre-defying collection from Jonathan Lethem features seven major stories published since his last collection, along with his best work spanning more than three decades. A major new story, "The Red Sun School of Thoughts," never published elsewhere, follows a teenaged boy coming to terms with figures of authority and power--those both in his own biological family and in the family he creates for himself. Elsewhere we meet "Super Goat Man," a down-at-heels bohemian superhero; "The Porn Critic," whose accidental expertise wrecks his own romantic aspirations; and "Sleepy People," who pose interpersonal conundrums without ever rousing from their slumber. Fluidly moving between realism and the surreal, the absurd and the mundane, A Different Kind of Tension is a container bursting with life and death, couples in trouble, talking animals, technologies on the fritz. Through it all are people longing to be seen and to connect; to thrive, love, and be forgiven. "This is the joy of reading Jonathan Lethem: you never know what you''re going to get" ( Financial Times ).
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"Lethem's short stories are surrealisms. Comparisons to the other great surrealists of short fiction would be apt, but he's created his own mode, and naming his influences maybe obscures his particular achievement. They start as ideas, as in 1950s science fiction or European folktales, ideas that are clear, startling, bold, strange, memorable. Then they unfold into character sketches as in the realist tradition, full of heart and soul, pain and hilarity. This fusion of real and surreal is what makes these stories so Lethemesque, and so very good. Take one at a time, like strong medicine, or rare gifts." - Kim Stanley Robinson
"I'm smitten with this collection, which feels as essential as The Fortress of Solitude or Motherless Brooklyn. Thirty-five years of asynchronous pleasure! Here is Lethem at his mind-melting best-as counter-clock-world builder, merry dystopian, king of sentences." - Ed Park
"A late-midcareer retrospective, 30 stories spanning 35 years of work by a talented and celebrated writer. . . . As always, Lethem is broadly curious, genre-promiscuous, and genuinely unpredictable; he ranges, so his stories do, too. . . . Inventive, unpredictable fun." - Kirkus Reviews (starred)
"How fortunate to have new and collected stories, because while amazing individually, cumulatively the effect is stunning. That last story: Oh! Lethem creates characters who finger the worry beads in their pockets unseen, conjuring those same hard realities into stepping stones to move the story forward. I read the stories as journeys with significant digressions. You can imagine the writer pointing his magic wand in many directions, but the stories' sense of weird inevitability can't be anticipated; up pop our cultural dreams or nightmares, our off-kilter relationships, our personal sadnesses. Nobody does it better." - Ann Beattie
"This collection of 35 years' worth of short fiction is Lethem's career in miniature, highlighting the various ways [he] has played with form: Philip K. Dick-inspired science fiction, postmodern takes on pulpy crime stories, genre parodies (one story spoofs Hollywood pitch meetings) and domestic stories that turn the typical he-said-she-said material on its head. A must-read for both longtime fans and newcomers to Lethem's expansive, off-kilter sensibility." - Mark Athitakis, Los Angeles Times
"In Jonathan Lethem's genre fiction, the conventions of the detective story or the crime thriller are always secondary to his characters' emotions and idiosyncrasies. In his short stories, the absurd personalities have free reign. This career-spanning survey begins with work published in the 1980s and ends with a story Lethem wrote last year, 'The Red Sun School of Thoughts.' The book is worth it for this alone." - Bustle
"Lethem has long been among the most distinctive voices in American letters. His unique blend of neo-noir, techno-futurist dystopia, and sociopolitical satire is well represented in this essential collection. . . . Lethem skillfully probes themes of identity, memory, and alienation with philosophical depth, often with an element of irreverent humor. Lethem's prodigious imagination and clever wordplay permeate each story, building both reality-adjacent and surrealist worlds with a playful wink." - Booklist
"A revelatory career-spanning collection of 30 fantastical and speculative stories. . . . The repeating motifs-claustrophobia, desire, malevolent chaos-provide keys to understanding Lethem's often elliptical tales. The author's fans will find much to love." - Publishers Weekly
