What it’s about: A man puts his beloved pets to the knife; a family prepares for the Rapture; a woman in a department store slips a necklace into her purse. Whatever the situation, the characters in This Jealous Earth find themselves faced with moments of decision that will forever alter the course of their lives. Always moving and often touched with humor, Carpenter’s stories examine the tension between the everyday and the transcendent—our struggle to grasp what lies beyond our reach. Whether hawking body parts in a Midwestern city, orbiting through the galleries of a Paris museum or plotting sibling tortures in an Arizona desert, his characters lead us through a series of dilemmas of universal appeal.
The Press:
Featured on Minnesota Public Radio.
“Stories like time bombs.” — Gregory Blake Smith, Law of Miracles
“Tautly constructed, psychologically acute, and elegantly written stories… By turns sad, funny, tender, and alarming, This Jealous Earth examines the nuanced turns and shifts of human events and feelings that imbue the ordinary with the extraordinary.” — Siri Hustvedt, What I Loved and The Summer Without Men
“Modern, witty, provocative. This Jealous Earth is an auspicious debut.” — Alethea Black, I Knew You’d Be Lovely
Named a “Best Book of 2012” by The New Podler Review (for pre-publication ARC)
“[An] agreeable debut… engaging… charmingly nostalgic.” — Publishers Weekly
“Incredibly moving… Carpenter’s writing is clear and delightful.” — The Rumpus
“A strong debut… impressively affecting… beautifully written.” — Noah Magazine