Praise for Sun Deluxe“Frederick Barthelme’s sentences imbue seemingly small moments with an enormous significance that escapes us in daily life. Lucid surfaces; an exacting attention to objects, environments, and relationships; and a kind of narrative restraint cause emotion to accumulate in a potent, unsuspecting way. The effect is strange and unmistakable. After I read him, I see the world through his eyes. He is simply a master of the short story form, and Sun Deluxe is a collection ‘in which ordinary life is made fun of and made mysterious and beautiful at the same time.’”—Jordan Castro, author of Muscle Man“[A]n extended meditation on the textures of ordinary existence in a culture defined by surfaces. Barthelme’s subtle humor is a lingering presence, often emerging from incongruity or understatement . . . a mosaic of lives that feel suspended between irony and sincerity, where meaning flickers but never fully settles. A quiet, unsettling reflection of modern life.”—BooklistPraise for Frederick Barthelme"He's audacious and writes like no one else—I love these stories.” —Ann Beattie"His textures are impeccable: rich, brightly colored, they seem to float on an underlying vacancy like mirages, leaving the reader dizzy and a little sunstruck. . .it’s impossible to conceive of any writer doing what he does any better than he does it."—Margaret Atwood"I admire his peculiar grasp of the slant side of human relationships. Superbly written and very funny."—Raymond Carver"In the course of such stories, we are allowed to witness tiny, hidden moments of vulnerability, intimacy, and even beauty."—Michiko Kakutani"Barthelme achieves what Chekhov spoke of as grace, the most gained with the least exertion . . . he has shown us the chaos of life, and from it, lifted an order we've not see before."—The San Francisco Chronicle (on Tracer)"This is very much a novel for these unsettling times, when we are learning to recognize the truth by how deeply we long to disbelieve it."—Francine Prose (on Two Against One)"Barthelme's take on Americana—dryly funny, despairing, caustic—is also deeply affectionate. This collection shows why this vividly gifted writer has influenced others for years."—Amy Hempel (on The Law of Averages)“[Barthelme] is one of the most distinctive prose stylists since Hemingway, capable of writing sentences so sharp and crisp and suggestive they have a palpable glow.” —Bret Easton Ellis“Consumer passions didn’t seem pasted on in these stories, but rather create a texture and a spooky land for modern fairy tales. . . . At first glance scenes appear to be surrealistic; then you carry on and realize that this is our urbanized, wised-up America.” —?The New York Times Book Review