The first book in English by an acclaimed Danish writer: "beautiful, faceted, haunting stories . . . [from] a rising star" (Junot Díaz) Karate Chop, Dorthe Nors's acclaimed story collection, is the debut book in the collaboration between Graywolf Press and A Public Space. These fifteen compact stories are meticulously observed glimpses of everyday life that expose the ominous lurking under the ordinary. While his wife sleeps, a husband prowls the Internet, obsessed with female serial killers; a bureaucrat tries to reinvent himself, exposing goodness as artifice when he converts to Buddhism in search of power; a woman sits on the edge of the bed where her lover lies, attempting to locate a motive for his violence within her own self-doubt. Shifting between moments of violence (real and imagined) and mundane contemporary life, these stories encompass the complexity of human emotions, our capacity for cruelty as well as compassion. Not so much minimalist as stealthy, Karate Chop delivers its blows with an understatement that shows a master at work.

Katie’s friend Kevin can’t wait for his big karate match. And Kevin, who says he’s the best yellow belt in his class, thinks he’s bound to win. But when the magic wind turns Katie into Kevin just before his big match, she manages to threaten his chances of beating the competition! Will Katie be able to karate chop her way to the top?

In unabashed celebration of Captain James T. Kirk’s singular fighting skills, Star Trek: Kirk Fu Manual is every Starfleet cadet's must-have training guide for surviving the final frontier. As captain of the legendary U.S.S. Enterprise, James T. Kirk engaged in his share of fisticuffs, besting opponents with a slick combination of moves and guile that remains unmatched. Is there anyone you’d rather have watching your back as you take on Klingons, alien gladiators, genetically engineered supermen, and even the occasional giant walking reptile? Kirk Fu is a series of unarmed combat techniques developed by one of Starfleet’s most celebrated starship captains over several years of encounters with alien species on any number of strange new worlds. A blend of various fighting styles, Kirk Fu incorporates elements of several Earth-based martial arts forms as well as cruder methods employed in bars and back alleys on planets throughout the galaxy. It is as unorthodox in practice as it is unbelievable to behold. Including excerpts from Kirk’s own notes and personal logs, the Star Trek: Kirk Fu Manual is the perfect training guide for surviving the depths of space. With proper training and practice, every Starfleet cadet can become one with Kirk Fu.

“I finished this book with my heart pounding and grateful, my coffee cold and my smile wide and crying like a baby.” —Daniel Handler The characters in Praying Drunk speak in tongues, torture classmates, fall in love, abandon their children, keep machetes beneath passenger seats, and collect porcelain figurines. Ranging from Kentucky to Florida to Haiti, these stories enact the struggle to remain physically and spiritually alive throughout an untamable, turbulent world. Described as an author whose “voice lands somewhere between William Faulkner and Stephen King” (New Pages), Kyle Minor presents a dark, compelling collection of fiction showcasing the talent that has earned him multiple literary honors.

Chip O'Hare wants to be just like the martial-arts hero Striper Mee. But when he goes to karate class,it isn't action packed at all! Chip thinks he's the best in the class at striking and kicking, so he can't understand why Mr. Leo won't give him his yellow belt. Then a run-in at the park helps Chip realize that being a true martial artist takes more than just a ferocious karate chop! Young martial-arts fans will identify with Chip's desire for action and applaud his spirit in this story about what it really means to be a good sport.

A dazzling return to the short story by a finalist for the Man Booker International Prize In fourteen effervescent stories, Dorthe Nors plumbs the depths of the human heart, from desire to melancholy and everything in between. Just as she did in her English-language debut, Karate Chop, Nors slices straight to the core of the conflict in only a few pages. But Wild Swims expands the borders of her gaze, following people as they travel through Copenhagen, London, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and elsewhere. Here are portraits of men and women full of restless longing, people who are often seeking a home but rarely finding it. A lie told during a fraught ferry ride on the North Sea becomes a wound that festers between school friends. A writer at a remote cabin befriends the mother of an ex-lover. Two friends knock doors to solicit fraudulent donations for the cancer society. A woman taken with the idea of wild swims ventures as far as the local swimming pool. These stories have already been featured in the pages of New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, Tin House, and A Public Space. They sound the darker tones of human nature and yet find the brighter chords of hope and humor as well. Cutting and offbeat without ever losing its warmth, Wild Swims is a master class in concision and restraint, and a path to living life without either. With Wild Swims Nors’s star will continue to be ascendant.

Sonja's over forty, and she's trying to move in the right direction. She's learning to drive. She's joined a meditation group. And she's attempting to reconnect with her sister. But Sonja would rather eat cake than meditate. Her driving instructor won't let her change gear. And her sister won't return her calls. Sonja's mind keeps wandering back to the dramatic landscapes of her childhood--the singing whooper swans, the endless sky, and getting lost barefoot in the rye fields--but how can she return to a place that she no longer recognises? And how can she escape the alienating streets of Copenhagen?