A History of Heartache

“Strickland laces his hardscrabble scenes with lyricism … In each piece, grief underscores the characters’ recklessness, imbuing the collection with an unsentimental but tender emotional register. Strickland’s humane depictions of people living on the margins acknowledge the forces that shape them.” — Publishers Weekly

“Patrick Strickland writes with economy, muscle, and beauty, and these stories can both break and warm your heart at the same time.” — Michael Farris Smith, author of Lay Your Armor Down and Desperation Road

“Easily the best collection of short fiction I’ve read in years, A History of Heartache not only proves Strickland’s skill as a reporter is matched only by his gift as a storyteller, it marks the arrival of an important new voice in contemporary fiction.” — Marya Hornbacher, New York Times-bestselling author of Wasted and The Center of Winter

“Meet Strickland’s hard-boiled, broken, and downtrodden — North America’s lost. Read their stories of motel graveyard shifts, single parenting, and drinking. Just know your heart will break.” — Adrianne Kalfopoulou, author of A History of Too Much and The Re in Refuge