Description
Description
A Globe and Mail Spring 2026 Read A major debut collection of globe-spanning stories set in the worlds of art, crime, and fantasy, by an exceptionally elegant and mischievous storyteller. "Terrific: witty, ironic, unnerving, stylish, and funny, very funny. . . . The best first collection of stories I've read in years." --André Alexis, author of Fifteen Dogs A stone appears in a woman's pocket like a charm only to end up lodged in someone else's throat. A condescending artist throws a dinner party with his too-square girlfriend, only to learn too late that she is far more daring than he ever imagined. A psychic harnesses her talent for animal communication to extract a perfect revenge after a stinging betrayal.
In The Good Eye, the world can change in an instant. The beautiful turns grotesque, the exalted becomes the disgraced, the genius an imposter. Contradictory forces confront the men and women of Gibson's collection, as they wrestle with the limits of perception.
Pulsing with style and vibrancy, The Good Eye takes readers on an unforgettable journey, without ever giving in to easy answers, and announces the arrival of a prodigious new talent.
In The Good Eye, the world can change in an instant. The beautiful turns grotesque, the exalted becomes the disgraced, the genius an imposter. Contradictory forces confront the men and women of Gibson's collection, as they wrestle with the limits of perception.
Pulsing with style and vibrancy, The Good Eye takes readers on an unforgettable journey, without ever giving in to easy answers, and announces the arrival of a prodigious new talent.
About the Author
About the Author
Jess Gibson was born in Canada. She studied at McGill and the University of Toronto, and received her PhD in art history from Yale University. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her spouse and child. The Good Eye is her first book.
Critical Reviews
Critical Reviews
"Wise, seductive, funny, and psychedelic, The Good Eye is written in gloriously precise and tactile prose, illuminating the antechambers and edges of life--apparitions, fakes, visitations by ghosts, rodents, and stray lovers--where both threat and insight glistens. Hopeful and renegade like Joy Williams and with a sly Mona Lisa smile, Jess Gibson moves between a high-altitude view and the very muscle of life to uncover what fluorescence it might hold. This collection took my breath away. A quietly, cumulatively, supernaturally brilliant debut."--Claudia Dey, author of Daughter
"The Good Eye is the kind of collection I'm always looking for and never seem to quite find. The power in these beautifully understated stories is in the concision--and precision--of the language. No gimmicks here, just direct, clear-eyed prose. And moving, human struggles on the page."--Peter Orner, author of The Gossip Columnist's Daughter
"Twelve smart, understated stories about uncanny and magical moments in everyday life... Often, the stories themselves perform surprising and original sleights of hand, starting with one character only to reveal that another is the real star...Well-mannered stories about women in the throes of rejecting convention and exercising all varieties of magic."--Kirkus Reviews
"The best first collection of stories I've read in years: witty, ironic, unnerving, stylish, and funny, very funny. The stories are wonderfully written but Gibson's sensibility is what's most striking. It's like going for a walk with a charming and cultivated guide who knows her way around some of the most vivid parts of hell."--André Alexis, author of Other Worlds: Stories
"The stories in this bewitching collection begin in the known world before tilting towards mystery and rebellion--a book full of pleasure and surprise."--Aysegül Savas, author of The Anthropologists and Long Distance: Stories
"Astoundingly accomplished. Unsettling, forensically observed, and written in devastatingly pristine prose, these stories burrowed their way under my skin and lingered there. Jess Gibson does not write like a debut author. These are modern stories imbued with a sense of timelessness."--Jan Carson, author of Quickly, While They Still Have Horses: Stories
"In the masterful debut story collection from Gibson, characters confront eerie and unexpected situations...Throughout, Gibson builds impactful stories out of richly evoked settings and airtight psychological insights. The author exhibits remarkable range in this inspired and deeply accomplished work."--Publishers Weekly (starred)
Publishing Information
Publishing Information
Publisher:
Cardinal
Pub date:
2026-05-12
Length:
176 pages

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