ories , ▁received ▁the ▁ 2 0 0 8 ▁Washington ▁Writ ers ▁Publishing ▁House ▁Award ▁for ▁F iction . ▁Story S outh ▁wrote ▁that ▁the ▁book ' s ▁" four teen ▁super b ly - craft ed ▁tales ▁. ▁. ▁. ▁explore ▁the ▁most ▁vital ▁cr ises ▁of ▁existence , ▁when ▁human ▁emot ions — des ire ▁and ▁isol ation , ▁susp icion ▁and ▁je alous y — bo il ▁over , ▁leaving ▁in ▁their ▁w ake ▁ex quis ite ▁failure ▁and ▁a ▁conflict ▁that ▁blo oms ▁in ▁complexity ▁every ▁time ▁the ▁reader ▁revis its ▁it ." ▁Publish ers ▁Week ly ▁wrote ▁that ▁Taylor ' s ▁stories ▁" unc over ▁gentle ▁ir ony ▁in ▁the ▁commonly ▁held ▁notion ▁of ▁a ▁successful ▁life ." ▁In ▁Washington ▁City ▁P aper , ▁Mark ▁Ath it ak is ▁wrote ▁that ▁Taylor ’ s ▁skills ▁included ▁" t ight , ▁convin cing ▁dialog ue , ▁and ▁an ▁eye ▁for ▁apt ▁met aph ors ▁within ▁the ▁places ▁his ▁characters ▁inhab it ." ▁Taylor ' s ▁stories ▁have ▁appeared ▁in ▁literary ▁journ als ▁including ▁G argo yle , ▁Pot om ac ▁Review , ▁J ab ber wo ck , ▁Bar rel house , ▁and ▁Rio ▁Grande ▁Review , ▁and ▁in ▁the ▁anth ologies ▁Str ess ▁City ▁and ▁E c lect ica ' s ▁Best ▁F iction . ▁ ▁Personal ▁life ▁ ▁Taylor ▁was ▁born ▁in ▁ 1 9 6 1 ▁and ▁grew ▁up ▁in ▁Alexand ria , ▁V A . ▁His ▁father , ▁William ▁Taylor , ▁was ▁an ▁army ▁engineer