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A Gypsy’s Book of Revelation is a collection of stories with an astonishing range of styles and subject matters. A woman visits her cremation from inside the body of her dead self, a competitive couple trains as free-divers, a mother leaves her son behind on top of a mountain, a very pregnant woman experiences a peculiar relationship with a priest-to-be: these stories are full of surprising experimentation that strikes a deeply compelling balance between the real and the bizarre. Embodying unusual premises and worlds, these stories are also fearlessly nontraditional in their structure and approach. These voices haunt, tease, and dare while never providing fully fledged answers. Each story is its own unique thing, a small but profound nod to the human condition.
"This collection has an astonishing range of styles and subject matters—it seems that there’s no character or situation the author is afraid to explore, and the stories are full of surprising experimentation and a balance between realism and the weird that I found deeply compelling. Readers who, like me, are fans of Jim Shepard and Carmen Maria Machado will find much to admire here: like Shepard, these stories vividly embody surprising and unusual premises and worlds; like Machado, they are fearlessly nontraditional in their structure and approach. But they are also their own unique thing, sui generis, each story imbued with authority and wisdom. I’m super excited about this author’s future work." —Dan Chaon, author of Ill Will
"Cécile Barlier’s new book of stories, A Gypsy’s Book of Revelation, is aptly named. It is truly a book of revelations—magical realism turned upside down and inside out. The imagination here is extraordinary: an old woman’s last thoughts on her way to being cremated, a mother who loses her son on a freeway, and a woman in deep conversation with all her dead relatives on her way home for the first time in decades. The metaphors abound: “And I walk my dog and my dog walks me . . . and we’re such big losers, but we lose in unison . . . and now the lentils are watching her, demanding explanations . . . a parade of silences marched through my head on an erratic time treadmill.” Does writing on this level change us? The answer is yes, and so much so I’m seeing everything through Barlier’s eyes, a lasting gift of wonders." —Philip Schultz, author of The Wherewithal
"Her short stories are fantastic. They bring to mind author E.L Doctorow’s comment that the ultimate responsibility of the writer is to witness ... It’s powerful writing with a directness that compels the involvement of the reader." —Delmarva Today: 3-9-21
"Though a newcomer to the genre, Bay Area author Cécile Barlier shows a mastery of the form with this visceral and eclectic debut. In stories that span from the harrowing and macabre to the outlandish and amusing, she turns everyday situations into playgrounds for literary experimentation." —Datebook