Contributor(s):Author: Julia ElliottAt an obscure South Carolina nursing home, a lost world reemerges as a disabled elderly woman undergoes newfangled brain-restoration procedures and begins to explore her environment with the assistance of strap-on robot legs. At a deluxe medical spa on a nameless Caribbean island, a middle-aged woman hopes to revitalize her fading youth with grotesque rejuvenating therapies that combine cutting-edge medical technologies with holistic approaches and the pseudo-religious dogma of Zen-infused self-help. And in a rinky-dink mill town, an adolescent girl is unexpectedly inspired by the ravings and miraculous levitation of her fundamentalist friends weird grandmother. These are only a few of the scenarios readers encounter in Julia Elliotts debut collection The Wilds. In her genre-bending stories, Elliott blends Southern gothic strangeness with dystopian absurdities, sci-fi speculations with fairy-tale transformations. Teetering between the ridiculous and the sublime, Elliotts language-driven fiction uses outlandish tropes to capture poignant moments in her humble characters lives. Without abandoning the tenets of classic storytelling, Elliott revels in lush lyricism, dark humor, and experimental play. Review citationsKirkus Reviews - 08/01/2014Publishers Weekly / Best Of The Best/Highly Recommended - 08/11/2014Publishers Weekly / Exceptional Presentation - 08/11/2014Publishers Weekly / Book Of Special Distinction - 08/11/2014Publishers Weekly / Top 15 Book Of The Year - 08/11/2014Publishers Weekly / Highly Recommended - 08/11/2014Booklist - pg. 48 - 09/01/2014Shelf Awareness - 10/17/2014Kirkus Best Fiction - pg. 16 - 11/15/2014New York Times Book Review - pg. 34 - 11/30/2014New York Times Book Review - pg. 80 - 12/07/2014