AWWIE — Andrew F. Sullivan

ALL WE WANT IS EVERYTHING

“One of the country’s most talented young writers debuts with an extreme and extremely good short-story collection, a book of booze, bleakness and bruises. This is a writer to watch.”

THE GLOBE AND MAIL

“A striking debut from a writer worth paying attention to in the coming years.”

THE NATIONAL POST

“Roughly equivalent to watching a train wreck—horrifying, yet compelling, at the same time.”

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

“It’s Raymond Carver meets Raymond Chandler, tales of hard living rendered in poetic prose stripped down to the essentials.”

BROKEN PENCIL

SUMMARY

All We Want is Everything, Andrew F. Sullivan’s exceptional debut collection of short stories, finds the misused and forgotten, the places in between, the borderlands on the edge of town where dead fields alternate with empty warehouses—places where men and women clutch tightly at whatever fragments remain. Motels are packed with human cargo, while parole is just another state of being. Christmas dinners become battlegrounds; truck cabs and bathroom stalls transform into warped confessionals; and stories are told and retold, held out by people stumbling towards one another in the dark.

Frightening, hilarious, filled with raging impotence and moments of embattled grace, All We Want is Everything is the advent of a tremendous new literary voice.

Find out more at Arbeiter Ring Publishing (ARP).

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“Andrew F. Sullivan wields his prose swiftly, expertly, slicing away all soft flesh and precious angles to get to the hidden marrow of his characters unquiet lives and then, when all seems hopeless, twists the knife slightly toward a momentary tenderness that’s even more startling. All We Want is Everything is an unnerving, discomfiting, totally original debut. ”

— Miriam Toews, author of All My Puny Sorrows and A Complicated Kindness

REVIEWS FOR AWWIE

Zoe Whittall, in The Globe and Mail writes:

"All We Want Is Everything is a slim book but it is jammed with stories that drip with guts, bodily emissions, and heartache, told by narrators who long for a real connection. The writing is a clean right hook that lands with precision. …It’s a startling debut by one of my new favourite writers whose promise is clear and future looks bright. Write his name down because hopefully he’s going to be a big deal."

Steven W. Beattie in The National Post writes:

"The 20 stories in All We Want Is Everything are hard and unforgiving, dragging the reader bodily through a world in which factory machines mangle workers beyond repair and clouds of birds descend on a city, turning it into a toxic wasteland of filth and unbreathable air."

Chad Pelley, in Telegraph-Journal/Salon writes:

"There’s a mantra, for crafting short fiction, which claims “a good short story opens on a scene in progress, and never really ends.” A short story is a snapshot of a life in progress, focused on a pivotal moment in the character’s life. Sullivan embodies this mantra, and his snapshots are more like dark portraits of society’s underbelly; its most sinister desires and unspoken realities. From his catchy opening lines to his killer closing lines, there’s not a wasted word on the pages of this book, and you will, more than once, be picking your jaw up off your lap."

Bev Sandell Greenberg, in Winnipeg Free Press writes:

"Reading Sullivan’s visceral, understated prose is roughly equivalent to watching a train wreck—horrifying, yet compelling, at the same time. … Sullivan should be commended for his strong commitment to voice and his uncanny ability to plumb the depths of these characters. This is a bold and arresting debut."

Chris Hanna, in Maisonneuve writes:

“In All We Want Is Everything, Andrew F. Sullivan assembles a collection of short stories that are at once tragic, mortifying and funny. …These are the kinds of tales you love to read but are glad are not happening to you, involving estranged family members, childhood memories and personal and financial struggles.”

A.G. Pasquella, in Broken Pencil writes:

"It’s Raymond Carver meets Raymond Chandler, tales of hard living rendered in poetic prose stripped down to the essentials…. All We Want Is Everything is the debut of a major talent."

Kelsie Hahn, in Heavy Feather Review writes:

"Sullivan’s All We Want Is Everything is an exploration of power and choice in the face of hopelessness, inertia, and hurt. The stories are meticulously crafted and offer potent glimpses of characters trapped in a dark world."

Justin Brouckaert, in Sundog Lit writes:

“All We Want Is Everything is darkly funny at times, graceful at others and gritty throughout—a good read for those who are interested in the way people ruin and trap themselves, and the way they learn to cope with a world that is reluctant to help.”

Alessandra Ferrei, in The Book Stylist writes:

"All We Want is Everything tells tales of psychological trauma, family dysfunction, broken hearts and broken bodies. Sullivan's characters are often the underdogs: the mistresses, the widows, the young children of wayward parents and the convicts. Ripe with bad mistakes and impulsively bad choices."