The Miniature Wife and Other Stories (2013)

Is there a term for something that's sad, funny, and strange all at once? Sunge? Frad? Because that would describe this imaginative debut, The Minature Wife and Other Stories perfectly. Gonzales' stories often start with a fantastical premise — a con artist buys a unicorn; a hijacked plane circles the earth for 20 years — but even the most absurd emotional conflicts feel familiar somehow, which only makes them more moving. In one story, a zombie falls for his co-worker and struggles with the urge to bite her husband. Even the beasts here seem deeply human. A-