Dogfight - by Michael Knight (Paperback)

About the Book

"Ten stories cut like gems from American family life . . . [with] a gracious patina and a drawl of violence." --"Los Angeles Times"
"A writer of the first rank. . . . [Knight] writes gently and with great gobs of empathy."--"Esquire"
"Wonderfully humane." --"Playboy"
A "Los Angeles Times" Notable Book, Michael Knight's stunning debut delivers ten tales of ordinary people seized by extraordinary circumstances as their attempts at human connection result in frustrating false starts and ruinous misunderstandings. Knight expertly unveils fragile family ties, secret compulsions, and the nagging doggedness of love as he taps into our collective human experience to remind us, with unerring, piercing insight, of what it means to be alive. By turns unpredictable and wise, sorrowful and triumphant, " Dogfight and Other Stories" reveals the transformative power of life's small struggles.

Book Synopsis

"Ten stories cut like gems from American family life . . . [with] a gracious patina and a drawl of violence." --Los Angeles Times
"A writer of the first rank. . . . [Knight] writes gently and with great gobs of empathy."--Esquire
"Wonderfully humane." --Playboy
A Los Angeles Times Notable Book, Michael Knight's stunning debut delivers ten tales of ordinary people seized by extraordinary circumstances as their attempts at human connection result in frustrating false starts and ruinous misunderstandings. Knight expertly unveils fragile family ties, secret compulsions, and the nagging doggedness of love as he taps into our collective human experience to remind us, with unerring, piercing insight, of what it means to be alive. By turns unpredictable and wise, sorrowful and triumphant, Dogfight and Other Stories reveals the transformative power of life's small struggles.

Review Quotes

"A young writer of first rank ... [Knight is] an old-fashioned yarn spinner who writes gently and with great gobs of empathy."

"If good writing is like a good suit--durable, seamless, and decidedly non-flashy--then Michael Knight [is a] master tailor."

"Like Raymond Carver, Knight has the knack of portraying ordinary people coping the best they can with extraordinary circumstances. But Knight's voice--inflected with wry humor, lingering regrets, and the occasional flash of unfounded optimism--is distinctly his own."

"Ten stories cut like gems from American family life....[They] have a gracious patina and a drawl of violence: [Knight's] stories emphasize the pivotal moment, the decisive moment."

"Wonderfully humane ... What's impressive about these stories is that they gather their considerable power not from stylistic flash or conceptual cleverness but from the fact that they tell us only what we need to know."