Jo Ann Beard writes fiction and essays that are so moving so moving so emotional. I turned from stories to essays could not put the collection down.Will be recommending.#netgalley #liittlebrown

Nine moving and heartbreakingly sad short stories on the ups and downs that are part of life. This was a moving read, but definitely one to pick up when you're ready for a good cry.

I have always loved Jo Ann Beard and this is fantastic. It's the usual great writing, and the emotion that swims under every line.

Jo Ann Beard's collection of thought-provoking essays and stories stay with you long after reading them. I've read much of her work, and the mention of dogs and lovers seemed familiar (probably read some of them in literary magazines earlier) and made me curious if this was a new dog, a new lover. The final story, which is the title of the collection, felt not only like an intimate tribute to her friend, but as a reflection of herself, and on this grey first day of a new year, made me think of travels, lovers, friends, and how this collection provided me with much companionship during this rather isolated pandemic.

I discovered Jo Ann Beard’s rich, riveting work when a writing teacher assigned her essay The Fourth State Of Matter, which appeared in the New Yorker in 1996. That essay so wowed me, I couldn’t wait to read more. This forthcoming book, Festival Days, is a potent treasure, jammed with perfectly-observed details and a rhythm that tumbles forward like a song. Beard chronicles the commonplace and the unusual with equal beauty. Her ability to make time do what she wants is impressive. She can make it drag, while simultaneous pulling the reader forward, in The Tomb of Wrestling, and pushes it into quick leaps as if choreographing a fast-paced dance in the title piece Festival Days. As she so often does, each piece, and the collection as a whole, come to a smashing final beat, more than the sum of its parts, both separate and connected. A beautiful book, highly recommended.