Jenny and the Jaws of Life: Short Stories - Softcover

"If I could rescue one book, I think it would be Jenny and the Jaws of Life. . . . It's just the funniest collection of stories I've ever read-really funny and perfectly sad at the same time. There was a story in the book called 'The Best of Betty, ' which was written in the form of letters to a household-hints author, and it was just perfection. Perfection." --David Sedaris

"A triumphant collection. . . . From a reader Willett can provoke whoops of laughter, wonderment and grim speculation about the brevity of good times for human beings. There's an admirable toughness to her writing as she encompasses the contradictions and uncontrollability of life. She uses words with devastating preciseness." --Chicago Tribune

"Marvelous. . . The language is tight, the scenes are built like blocks until an unexpected end that Willett works in a kind of gothic 'Gotcha.' She's a master of modern technique. Don't expect your usual short story here." --Winston-Salem Journal

"Willett's fiction presents a cavalcade of accidents and tragedies, of mishaps and maladies and emergencies. What makes the short stories so striking is that Willett handles these catastrophes with such cool, wry wit. Willett is ready to join the select group of short story writers-Joyce Carol Oates and Flannery O'Connor among them-who treat lurid, graphic material with psychological acuity and deadpan wit." --Providence Journal