The Garden of Earthly Delights

As in Hieronymous Bosch's medieval painting, in this collection of long short stories, we see that love and intimacy can be heaven on earth. But too often in our human woundedness, we turn it into hell on earth. These stories explore struggles, self-sabotages and--every now and then--successes of men and women as they search for that heaven that is connection with another. A narcissistic actress offers to help a down-and-out prostitute. A lovestruck American couple wanders Madrid with the singular goal of viewing THE GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS. A businessman unexpectedly finds religion, and the skeptical ear of a woman less interested in his enlightenment. A young woman faces a brutalizing medical system and a healer with Nazi sympathies. A self-destructive night club singer reunites with her arrogant former lover. An immigrant supermodel, obsessed with the fear of losing her husband, has no idea how deeply she is loved. Part the leaves. Enter the garden, and be delighted.

"In THE GARDEN OF EARTHLY DELIGHTS we witness new lovers as they slowly reveal their damnation. Haas's sentences are awake and aware and habitable. The reader moves through them and into Madrid with imagistic and emotional ease. A Madrid charged with the delightful and dark perversities of a fresh romance seasoned. Love it." -Kevin Kilroy, author of THE ESCAPEES and DEAD ENDS: OR LAUGHING GAS

"This book is stylistically brilliant, an exquisitely made thing. Beneath that veneer, though, the book is supercharged, like a muscle car. Among its many bits of wisdom is that idea that we are all one, each interrelated. There are no true separations between us. As Whitman wrote, "for every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you." And as the quote about the "danger" of artists goes, "Beware of artists. They mix with all classes..." In this case, we are given a mix of all sorts: opera singers and streetwalkers, suburban couples, academics, and lonely people of all stripes. This is one of my favorite books of the past few years. It will likely become yours, too."
-Kevin Rabas, EVERYONE JUST WANTS TO DRUM, Poet Laureate of Kansas, 2017-2019