即将年满55岁的海佩尔是美国知名的短篇小说作家，对她感到陌生的中国读者，可以想一下雷蒙·卡佛，两人风格相近，被称为短篇作家中的“极简主义者”。

自1985年出版第一部短篇小说集《活着的理由》》（Reasons to Live）以来，汉普尔只出了三个薄薄的集子，其中包括她最广为人知的一篇《在艾尔·乔尔森入葬的墓地里》。最近的作品是2005年的《婚姻与狗》》（The Dog of the Marriage），《艾米·汉普尔小说集》收入了她所有的小说作品。汉普尔是一位慢工出细活的故事叙述者，二十多年来，她只写出了15000个句子，但字字珠玑，肌理细密，诚为写作者和评论家眼中的宠儿。

人类无可旋避的抉择、因为渴望和忧虑而产生的终极体验、在命运面前的束手无策，都是作者所要表达的主题，作者以自己充满激情、睿智和犀利的眼光，关注着美国生活中的婚姻、不幸的遭遇和心灵的启示。

The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel gathers together the complete work of a writer whose voice is as singular and astonishing as any in American fiction. Hempel, fiercely admired by writers and reviewers, has a sterling reputation that is based on four very short collections of stories, roughly fifteen thousand stunning sentences, written over a period of nearly three decades. These are stories about people who make choices that seem inevitable, whose longings and misgivings evoke eternal human experience. With compassion, wit, and the acutest eye, Hempel observes the marriages, minor disasters, and moments of revelation in an uneasy America.

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When Reasons to Live, Hempel's first collection, was published in 1985, readers encountered a pitch-perfect voice in fiction and an unsettling assessment of the culture. That collection includes "San Francisco," which Alan Cheuse in The Chicago Tribune called "arguably the finest short story composed by any living writer." In At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom, her second collection, frequently compared to the work of Raymond Carver, Hempel refined and developed her unique grace and style and her unerring instinct for the moment that defines a character. Also included here, in their entirety, are the collections Tumble Home and The Dog of the Marriage. As Rick Moody says of the title novella in Tumble Home, "the leap in mastery, in seriousness, and sheer literary purpose was inspiring to behold.... And yet," he continues, "The Dog of the Marriage, the fourth collection, is even better than the other three...a triumph, in fact."

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The Collected Stories of Amy Hempel is the perfect opportunity for readers of contemporary American fiction to catch up to one of its masters. Moody's passionate and illuminating introduction celebrates both the appeal and the importance of Hempel's work.