A collection of short stories, "each one a small gem, [exploring] complicated relationships and strange conundrums found in everyday life" ( San Francisco Chronicle ). A Notable Book of the Year: New York Times , Washington Post A Top ten Book of the Year: Los Angeles Times , Christian Science Monitor A Best Book of the Year: Wall Street Journal , Kirkus Reviews , Fresh Air , San Francisco Chronicle A Top Title for Gift Giving: Chicago Tribune Longlisted for the National Book Award "Should cement Edith Pearlman's reputation as one of the most essential short story visionaries of our time." — New York Times Book Review Over the past several decades, Edith Pearlman has staked her claim as one of the all-time great practitioners of the short story, earning consistent comparisons to Anton Chekhov, John Updike, Alice Munro, Grace Paley, and Frank O'Connor. This stunning new collection is the crowning achievement of a brilliant career. Whether the characters we encounter are a special child with pentachromatic vision, a group of displaced Somali women adjusting to life in suburban Boston, or a staid professor of Latin unsettled by a random invitation to lecture on the mystery of life and death, Pearlman intimately reveals them to us with unsurpassed generosity. As the latest offering from "the best short story writer in the world" ( The Times of London), Honeydew has been proclaimed a masterpiece of inexhaustible beauty and pleasure. "Full of some of the best sentences you'll ever want to read." — Los Angeles Times "If you have never read Edith Pearlman, you're in for a lovely surprise, and if you have, you're in for another treat." — Washington Post "These elegant compassionate stories bring 'regular' people to complex life. Pearlman's flawed characters demand your attention and win your heart." — People "Pearlman is a contemporary master of the short story. . . . Honeydew is a stellar collection." —Tom Perrotta, author of Little Children