New Jones Collection

I am a huge fan of Edward P. Jones, so I’ve been eagerly anticipating the publication of his new collection of short stories, All Aunt Hagar’s Children. Several of the stories in the book have already appeared in print (in the New Yorker, for example) and I knew I would have at least the delight of re-reading those, if nothing else. But the rest of the book enchants both Dave Eggers, as you can see from his glowing review in this Sunday’s New York Times Book Review, and Jonathan Yardley, whose write-up in the Washington Post begins with the words: “Now there can be no doubt about it: Edward P. Jones belongs in the first rank of American letters.” Damn right.