Mark Richard's two collections of stories and one novel have already earned him a reputation as one of the most talented writers of fiction in America. His stories are a rich banquet of dynamic storytelling and linguistic prowess. Compared variously to William Faulkner, Mark Twain, and Flannery O'Connor, Richard writes in a genre that was referred to as "Maritime Gothic" by Margot Mifflin, in The New York Times Book Review (1993). Richard's fiction resists the categories in which reviewers and critics attempt to place it, however. Darker in outlook than Twain, funnier than Faulkner, and with more interest in the surreal than most writers of so-called trailer-park fiction, Richard's work offers a range of pleasures for readers of the short story.

Mark Richard (pronounced ri-SHARD) grew up in the Virginia Beach town of Franklin, the son of William Edgar Richard Jr. and Clara (née Sonnier) Richard, both...