Praise for The Widow's Guide to Edible Mushrooms

The Widow’s Guide to Edible Mushrooms is a marvelous addition to the literature of the American West. Craig’s Montana roots are everywhere evident in how these characters speak and how they carve out their lives in hardscrabble places. If we’re serious when we say we want to understand the reasons why this country has become so divided, reading this collection might be a good place to start. These are wonderfully realized, fully rounded, authentic characters often living on the edge, far from the centers of wealth and power. If they’re sometimes selfish and ignorant, they’re also strong and thoughtful. And, like all of us, they love one another fiercely and imperfectly. When you least expect it, Craig reminds the reader that in every life there is grace and dignity.

—Ladette Randolph, author of Haven’s Wake and Leaving the Pink House 

With the heart of a giant, and an eye sharp enough to cut, Chauna Craig takes her hometown of Great Falls, Montana, and makes it every town whose glory may lurk mostly in memory. And within these towns, within the hearts of the people hanging on, hidden as if by a magician, lie the complexities of all lives, awaiting, like our own hearts, discovery. The great gift of The Widow’s Guide to Edible Mushrooms is to allow you to be their discoverer. Chauna Craig is the real deal.

—Pete Fromm, author of If Not for This and The Names of the Stars: A Life in the Wilds

About the Author

Chauna Craig has published stories and essays in numerous anthologies and literary journals, including Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, Fourth Genre, and Sou’wester. She’s been awarded fellowships and scholarships to Vermont Studio Center, Hedgebrook, and Bread Loaf Writer’s Conference. A Montana native, she currently lives in western Pennsylvania. The Widow’s Guide to Edible Mushrooms is her debut story collection.