I Hear You're Rich

‘The writer who saved my life – or my soul.’ Merve Emre, The New Yorker

‘A true living hero of the American avant-garde.’ Jonathan Franzen

‘One of the very few contemporary prose writers who seem to be doing something independent, energetic, heartfelt.’ Lydia Davis

In Williams’ stories, life is newly alive and dangerous; whether she is writing about an affair, a request for money, an afternoon in a garden, or the simple act of carrying a cake from one room to the next, she offers us beautiful and unsettling new ways of seeing everyday life.

In perfectly honed sentences, with a sly and occasionally wild wit, Williams shows us how any moment of any day can open onto disappointment, pleasure, and possibility.

‘You can always count on Diane Williams, head literary weirdo and “godmother of flash fiction,” for a good time – if you consider having your mind blown to be a good time, which you should. Her latest book has 33 short pieces guaranteed to shift the world around you, if only for a moment.‘
-Lit Hub

‘Williams explores the pleasures and disappointments of adulthood in this distinctive collection … Williams’ blend of precision and understatement make her insights on her characters’ fears and limitations cut deeply while leaving the stories open to interpretation. This will leave readers aching in all the best ways.‘
-Publishers Weekly

‘Miniscule stories from a master of the form … It’s nearly impossible to categorise Williams’ work. She interrogates both the mundane and the metaphysical. In story after story, she upends what readers have grown to expect from traditional narratives – a beginning, middle, and end, to say the least – sometimes leaving us without any of those elements at all. A Williams story might be made up of a fragment of dialogue, a thought, a description, or some combination of these … Mysterious, gemlike, and strange.‘
-Kirkus Reviews

Author Biography

Diane Williams is the founder and editor of the distinguished literary annual, NOON, the archive of which, as well as Williams’ personal literary archive, was acquired in 2014 by the Lilly Library. She is the author of eight previous volumes of short fiction. She lives in New York City.