"Horvath seems to be channeling, all at once, Borges and Calvino and Kevin Brockmeier. And it all works."--Rebecca Makkai, author of "The Borrower" "'The Understory' is a terrific reach through history from the pre- and post-Nazi era in Germany up to the present. . . . This is a wonderful story, a first-rate creation by a fine writer."--Bill Henderson, president and editor of Pushcart Press, in his judge's statement for the Raymond Carver Short Story Award What if there was a city that consisted only of restaurants? What if Paul Gauguin had gone to Greenland instead of Tahiti? What if there was a field called Umbrology, the study of shadows, where physicists and shadow puppeteers worked side by side? Tim Horvath explores all of this and more as he blends the everyday and wondrous to contend with age-old themes of loss, identity, imagination, and the search for human connection. Full of speculative daring though firmly anchored in the tradition of realism, these stories easily stand in the company of contemporary masters such as Steven Millhauser and Jim Shepard. Whether making offhand references to "Mystery Science Theater," providing a new perspective on Martin Heidegger's philosophy and forays into Nazism, or following the imaginary travels of a library book, Horvath's writing is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking. Tim Horvath teaches creative writing at Chester College of New England and Boston's Grub Street writing center and works part-time as a counselor in a psychiatric hospital, primarily with autistic children and adolescents.