Ball

“Captivating and disturbing” stories from an exciting and original new voice: “Think Mary Gaitskill or Miranda July, but more demented” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
 
Ball explores the darker edges of love and sex and death, how they are intimately and often violently connected, with bright, vivid stories set mostly in contemporary Los Angeles.
 
In “Cactus,” a young girl comes to fear the outside world after the freakish, accidental death of her adventure-seeking boyfriend in the California desert; in “Wig,” a woman must help her best friend face cancer while covering up an affair with her friend’s husband; in “Fish,” the narrator sits watch over a dying uncle, but is distracted by the ravenous fish in the Koi pond near the hospital; and in the collection’s stunning title story, the bonds of friendship and pet ownership collide in the most startling and unexpected ways.
 
With a keen insight into the extremes of human behavior and an assured literary hand, Ball is a stunning achievement by one of the West Coast’s most provocative stylists.
 
“Twisted, dark, and wild . . . [Ison] is a talented writer who may have slipped under your radar. Be prepared to become obsessed.” —Hello Giggles