May 2024
How extraordinary this book is–dreamy and gritty, restless and free. Like dress, the Mexico in these stories is a series and voices, rendered for us with a poet’s utter attention–and like the rabbit in the moon, the stories sk us what can be seen and not seen. A rare and wonderful collection.
Joan Silber, author of Secrets of Happiness
Rabbit in the Moon is, perhaps, Karen Brennan’s most cinematic collection but, like her others, it is also extraordinarily moving and often laugh-out-loud funny. The volume is turned up, the colors, more saturated. We, with the unnamed narrator, wander through the dreamscape, feeling slightly untethered, longing to belong. We meet the quirkiest of characters, but they are also often heart-breaking; the dialog reveals how we always just miss understanding one another; as the characters’ perceptions change, so do ours. “Life is full of poorly timed catastrophes, says the Maestro finally. That’s what I love about it.” And that’s what I love about this book: it’s luminous.
Beth Alvarado, author of Jillian and the Borderlands
Seekers all, these mostly-women characters reside in San Miguel a few years before it became what it is today. Why are they there? Because at the end of the road there must be another road, right? And why not this enchanting city where egrets nest, artists improvise, bells mark the hours and the food is great. But encounters with the local characters and potential lovers leave these seekers even more vulnerable. Brennan’s quick-moving prose is so acute that I often wince and laugh at the same time. Deftly structured, the stories resonate like short novels. I love that. And I love this writer’s generous affection for the foibles and fun, the missed opportunities, and the grace that touches you when you least expect it.
Frances Mayes, author of Under the Tuscan Sun, A Place in the World: finding the meaning of home
What an honor to write a blurb for Karen Brennan’s funny and brilliantly-wrought book of stories RABBIT IN THE MOON that sometimes reminds me of Marquez, at others, of the genius of Alice Munro. Not only are Karen’s characters unfailingly unforgettable, but each sentence is honed by her sharp wit and intelligence. I am struck again and again by her deft creation of fresh metaphors at the same time as she is telling a story I cannot put down. And, these stories which often feel like fables glow with compassion. This collection is as thought-provoking as it is smart. Whether writing flash fiction or a full-length tale, Karen Brennan tells a damn good story, compelling, edgy and sometimes dancing on the rim of the mystical. I will be reading and rereading these stories for a long time.
Pamela Uschuk, author of Refugee