Old Crimes

From a New York Times bestselling author (“One of our wisest storytellers”), a story collection that is funny and tragic in equal measure, about crimes large and small (Rebecca Makkai, author of The Great Believers).

Beloved author Jill McCorkle offers an intimate look at the moments when a person’s life changes forever. A woman uses her hearing impairment as a way to guard herself from her husband’s commentary. A telephone lineman strains to communicate with his family even as he feels pushed aside in a digital world. And a young couple buys a confessional booth for fun, only to discover the cost of honesty. 

Moving and unforgettable, the stories in Old Crimes capture moments of great intensity, longing, and affection.

• "A splendid, wide-ranging collection that once again proves McCorkle is a master of the form."
  Jenny Offill, author of Weather
• “Jill McCorkle has had an extraordinary ear for the music of ordinary life since the beginning of her career, able to work with the voices we know so well to write these stories about they will not tell us, what they would rather not tell us, what they hope to tell us, what too often goes unsaid.  And this collection is a new wonder.”
   
  
   
  Alexander Chee, author of How to Write An Autobiographical Novel
• “Each story here is so carefully wrought yet wildly original at the same time, deeply wedded to the real world in all its complexity and detail. It seems to me that each one contains an entire life---and often, a whole novel. What a beautiful book.”
  
   
  Lee Smith, author of Silver Alert
• “With her wry humor, deep understanding of  human connection and disconnection, and a tremendous sense of fun, Jill McCorkle has given us another dazzling collection of stories.”
  Lily King, author of Five Tuesdays in Winter
• "McCorkle is a brilliant storyteller... Wonderfully rich and emotionally complicated stories."
  Kirkus Reviews
• "[A] satisfying collection… McCorkle serves up plenty of humor and heartache… and often pushes her stories toward empathetic and surprising climaxes. McCorkle fans will gobble this up."
  Publishers Weekly
• “Often funny, evenly darkly comic at times, McCorkle's memorable collection calls to mind Alice Munro and Charles Baxter.”
  Booklist
• "Author Jill McCorkle joins a talented group of narrators in a memorable performance of her terrific new short story collection. Sly, funny, perceptive, and searing, the stories explore what gets us through our days and years."
  Audiofile Earphone Award Winner