Orientation: And Other Stories — Daniel Orozco

Nine “darkly funny, profoundly compassionate” short stories exploring the nature of loneliness and human interaction in contemporary society (More).

“The stories in Daniel Orozco's debut collection convey a sense of workplace alienation that would make Karl Marx cringe. . . . A treat.” -- The New York Times Book Review

A Kirkus Reviews Best of 2011 Short Story Collections title

Breakfast's boiled egg, the overhead hum of fluorescent lights, the midmorning coffee break -- daily routines keep the world running. But when people are pushed -- by a coworker's taunt, a face-to-face encounter with a woman in free fall form a bridge -- cracks appear, revealing alienation, casual cruelty, madness, and above all a simultaneous hunger for and fear of the unknown. Daniel Orozco's Orientation introduces a writer at the height of his powers, whose work invites us to reassess the landscape of American fiction.

“Orientation remains a tour de force. . . . There isn't a lemon or an extraneous word in Orozco's nine stories, which boast not just cleverness but complexity, subtlety and range.” -- San Francisco Chronicle

“A gem and a killer. . . . Orozco manages to convey [Henry] James's psychological acuity with one-tenth of his clauses, mingling it with Steven Milhauser's sense of lunatic joy.” -- The Boston Phoenix

“The moment you begin this comparable debut, you'll discover why Daniel Orozco's fans have been shouting his praises for years. . . . This may be Orozco's first collection, but he's nothing short of a master.” -- Julie Orringer, author of The Invisible Bridge and How to Breathe Underwater