New from the Porch: The Museum of Heartache

The Museum of Heartache

by Paul Luikart

165 pages

ISBN-10 : ‎ 1948920271
ISBN-13 ‏: ‎ 978-1948920278

$15

Like fireworks seen from a distance, Paul Luikart’s stories burst across the page and leave their imprint on your eye, while revealing details of the landscape beneath.

“Paul Luikart earns his spot on the shortlist of writers who can sink you right into the skin of a character in only a few lines. This collection of stories, some almost poetry, captures moments in his characters’ lives when they aren’t just down and out but squeezed in the vice of their circumstances, whether peculiar or mundane. In their shoes, you’ll grapple with what it means to be fully human and come out the other side changed.”
–Audrey Keown, author of the Ivy Nichols Mysteries

“Paul Luikart does with the flawed and fallen what Andy Goldsworthy does with broken shells, bleached driftwood and detritus – lifts them up into an ephemeral and unforgettable art. The Museum of Heartache is not just a killer title – it’s a promise. Luikart will make your heart ache.”
–Mary Romero, author of Loom

“These very-short stories don’t waste a moment of your time. Paul Luikart takes your hand and walks you right into the back room, the best moment of any story, skipping all the plot and backstory he knows we never needed, and let’s you feel–one lip-trembling moment after another–why we used to love books this much, and why being awake, no matter how terrible life can become, is worth it.” –Chris Hoke, author of Wanted.

Paul Luikart is the author of the short story collections Animal Heart (Hyperborea Publishing, 2016), Brief Instructions (Ghostbird Press, 2017), and Metropolia (Ghostbird Press, 2021), in addition to The Museum of Heartache. He serves as an adjunct professor of fiction writing at Covenant College in Lookout Mountain, Georgia. He and his family live in Chattanooga, Tennessee.