Author and onetime University of Cincinnati (UC) professor Brock Clarke has high praise for David James Poissant, who earned a Ph.D. in comparative literature from UC in 2011: "Poissant will end up being his generation's Richard Ford: his fiction is full of big ideas, of startling insights into how we live now."
Sure enough, Poissant's debut collection of short stories, The Heaven of Animals (which will be published March 11), is generating strong notices, including a starred review from Kirkus, which culminates with the following statement: "Rueful and kind, akin to both Anton Chekhov and Raymond Carver in humane spirit and technical mastery."
Poissant appears 7 p.m. Tuesday at Joseph-Beth Booksellers (2692 Madison Road, Norwood, josephbeth.com) and as part of UC's ongoing Visiting Writers Series 4 p.m. March 7 in the Elliston Room (646 Langsam Library, University of Cincinnati campus, Clifton Heights, 513-556-5860) with Joseph Bates. Both are free.
