Fiction. An astronaut quits NASA to paint pictures of the moon; a man builds a star in his basement; an astronomer falls in love with a moose and loses his nose in a sword fight; and an aristocrat adopts two teenage girls in the hopes of raising one to become his perfect wife. Bryan Hurt's stories depict a world of wonder, magic, humor, sadness, and compassion. Wildly imaginative and meticulously researched, EVERYONE WANTS TO BE AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE is the debut of a new and exciting talent. "The breadth of this collection is a phenomenal celebration, and catalog of possibility, for the infinite versatility of short-form writing. Hurt's fabulist imagination, wickedly dry humor, and core emotional truths challenge, dazzle, and ignite." Alissa Nutting "I have been a longtime fan of Bryan Hurt's stories and what a joy to have them all together now in this book! They are a soup pot of the funniest dry sentences plus unusual facts that he unearthed from who knows where, and an understated humanity tucked inside those facts, and a constant eye on the oddness of culture and the lilt of a well-placed phrase and a carrot. In our endlessly data-packed world, Hurt's keen spareness is a welcome addition to the bookshelves." Aimee Bender "The fictional love child of Miranda July, George Saunders, and A.M Holmes, Hurt's debut collection combines farfetchedness and dark humor with just enough tenderness to make everything feel true." Courtney Maum "Bryan Hurt's stories are like no one else's. They are by turns hilarious, whimsical, arresting and heartbreaking, but what makes them such a delight is the sly simplicity and off-handed charm of their telling." T.C. Boyle ..".a delightfully strange and new thing, with layers hidden within." Electric Literature "The stories in Bryan Hurt's debut collection are refreshingly diverse, yet always fantastic and filled with dark humor." Largehearted Boy"

Author Biography

Bryan Hurt (b. 1981) is the author of EVERYONE WANTS TO BE AMBASSADOR TO FRANCE (2015), which won the Starcherone Prize for Innovative Fiction, and the editor of Watchlist: 32 Stories by Persons of Interest. His short fiction has been published in The American Reader, Guernica, The Kenyon Review, The New England Review, Tin House, TriQuarterly, and many more places. He has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize and named a finalist for a Calvino Prize. Born in Cleveland, he now lives in New York state and teaches creative writing at St. Lawrence University.