The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly by Rebecca Ansari

They call it a pickup truck, but she never picked anything up in it, just herself. A thing she had seen on someone’s front lawn, a For Sale sign taped to the windshield, handwritten in black marker. She never failed to make her morning shift on time. Red revved the engine, impatient, having to wait for the truck to warm up. THE SKY WAS BLACK like the middle of an eye.

“As the daughter of refugees, I’m able to finally see myself in stories.” -Angela So, Electric Literature Read Excerpt As one of Thammavongsa’s characters says, “All we wanted was to live.” And in these stories, they do-brightly, ferociously, unforgettably.Unsentimental yet tender, taut and visceral, How to Pronounce Knife announces Souvankham Thammavongsa as one of the most striking voices of her generation. In spare, intimate prose charged with emotional power and a sly wit, she paints an indelible portrait of watchful children, wounded men, and restless women caught between cultures, languages, and values. Henry Award winner Souvankham Thammavongsa focuses on characters struggling to make a living, illuminating their hopes, disappointments, love affairs, acts of defiance, and above all their pursuit of a place to belong. In her stunning debut story collection, O. A mother teaching her daughter the art of worm harvesting. A housewife learning English from daytime soap operas. A woman plucking feathers at a chicken processing plant.

Ansari’s debut novel is a stunning contemporary fantasy about love, loss, and the power to forgive that we all have inside us-even if we sometimes forget that it’s there.A failed boxer painting nails at the local salon. The note leads Charlie and Ana to make some profound discoveries about a magic they didn’t know existed, and they soon realize that if they're going to save Liam, they may need to risk being forgotten themselves, forever. The search seems hopeless-until Charlie receives a mysterious note, written in Liam’s handwriting. The only person who believes Charlie is his best friend, Ana-even if she has no memory of Liam, she is as determined as Charlie is to figure out what happened to him. No one even remembers him-not Charlie’s mother, who has been lost in her own troubles and not Charlie’s father, who is gone frequently on business trips. Then came the morning when the bunk, and Liam, disappeared forever.

His eight-year-old kid brother, who, up until a year ago, slept in the bunk above Charlie, took pride in being as annoying as possible, and was the only person who could make Charlie laugh until it hurt. Which is why it makes everyone uncomfortable when he talks about his brother. Arnold, National Book Award finalist and author of The Question of MiraclesĬharlie O’Reilly is an only child. A deeply satisfying and beautiful book.” - Elana K. “As puzzle pieces click into place, The Missing Piece of Charlie O’Reilly reveals that it’s stories-and family-that make us whole.

The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly by Rebecca Ansari