{"product_id":"the-great-grown-up-game-of-make-believe-paperback","title":"The Great Grown-Up Game of Make-Believe - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eLauren D. Woods\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Beautifully strange and incredibly satisfying.\" --Kristen Arnett\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWinner of the 2024 Autumn House Fiction Prize, these lyrical, haunting stories invite us to question the stories we tell ourselves and to imagine other paths--joyful, whimsical, even absurd--through the world. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA wife finds herself literally shrinking in her house, day by day; a mother recalls the surreal day when her infant daughter survives a close encounter with a bear; and, inside her lover's heart, a woman discovers a secret nightclub populated by all the women he's loved and left. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn the worlds, Woods conjures, childhood memories ripple through adult lives, and characters test the limits of their self-created realities. \u003ci\u003eThe Great Grown-Up Game of Make-Believe\u003c\/i\u003e urges us to contemplate how we can escape loneliness and heartbreak and live on our own terms. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLauren D. Woods\u003c\/b\u003e, originally from the Dallas area, now lives and writes in Washington, DC, where she was a 2024 Washington, DC Arts and Humanities Fellow for Fiction. Her first book, \u003ci\u003eThe Grown-Up Game of Make-Believe\u003c\/i\u003e, won the 2024 Autumn House Press Fiction Prize and her writing has appeared in the top ten spotlighted stories in \u003ci\u003eThe Best Small Fictions\u003c\/i\u003e, as well as \u003ci\u003eThe Antioch Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Normal School\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePassages North\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHayden's Ferry Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003e Red Rock Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eSouthern Humanities Review\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eLunch Ticket\u003c\/i\u003e, among others. Lauren works in consulting and lives with her husband, four children, two cats, and a guinea pig.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 176\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.9 x 8.4 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e October 21, 2025\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47498387259613,"sku":"9781637681091","price":22.74,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0811\/9867\/8237\/files\/LejSv3MyuU9781637681091.webp?v=1771992776","url":"https:\/\/handfulofbooks.com\/products\/the-great-grown-up-game-of-make-believe-paperback","provider":"Handful of Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}