Connie Willis

"When level-headed Francie arrives in Roswell, New Mexico, for her college roommate's UFO-themed wedding-complete with a true-believer bridegroom-she can't help but roll her eyes at all the wide-eyed talk of aliens, which obviously don't exist. Imagine her surprise, then, when she is abducted by one. Odder still, her abductor is far from what the popular media have led her to expect, with a body like a tumbleweed and a mass of lightning-fast tentacles....

"Connie Willis draws upon her understanding of the universalities of human nature to explore the ageless issues of evil, suffering, and the indomitable will of the human spirit. For Kivrin, preparing to travel back in time to study one of the deadliest eras in humanity’s history was as simple as receiving inoculations against the diseases of the fourteenth century and inventing an alibi for a woman traveling alone. For her instructors in the twenty-first...

A collection of 23 novellas and short stories by the author, including "It's a Wonderful Life," "Fire Watch," "Even the Queen," "The Last of the Winnebagos," "Nonstop to Portales," "Newsletter," "Just Like the Ones We Used to Know," "Cash Crop," "Daisy, in the Sun," "The Winds of Marble Arch," "The Soul Selects Her Own Society...," "A Letter from the Clearys," "Chance," "At the Rialto," and "All My Darling Daughters."

"During the height of the Blitz in London, the air raid rescue squad operating out of Mrs. Lucy's house is close-knit and ever-watchful. When a new volunteer named Jack shows up, his odd behavior - not eating, disappearing during the day for a mysterious job - isn't concerning at first. The sleepless stress of the job is hard on everyone. Soon, Jack is in high demand, due to an almost uncanny talent for finding buried people still alive under the...

Pop culture, chaos theory, and matters of the heart collide in this unique novella from the Hugo and Nebula Award–winning author of Doomsday Book.

Sandra Foster studies fads—from Barbie dolls to the grunge look—how they start and what they mean, for the HiTek corporation. Bennett O'Reilly studies monkey-group behavior and chaos theory for the same company. When the two are thrust together due to a misdelivered package and

...

"Christmas took on its modern cast in America, and over the last 150 years the most magical time of the year has inspired scores of astonishingly diverse and ingenious stories. Library of America joins with acclaimed author Connie Willis to present a unparalleled collection of American stories about Christmas, literary gems that showcase how the holiday became one of the signature aspects of our culture. Spanning from the origins of the American...