Some Kinds of Love

Some Kinds of Love is a richly entertaining book—inventive, irreverent, and, finally, moving. Steve Yates's well-drawn cast of characters tracks love into its darkest corners with astonishing results. This wildly imagined, wise book surprises—in the best way possible—until the very last page.'—Sabina Murray, Juniper Prize contest judge and author of The Caprices and Tales of the New World
'Some Kinds of Love is nothing short of masterful. You would think this was the work of not one but a dozen writers, so impressive is Yates's range of subject, setting, mood, and effect, from the quiet, ghastly intrigue of 'Hunter, Seeker' to the blowout hilarity of the Green Tomato Marquesa's triumph. In Steve Yates's stories, pigs really do fly. He is a brilliant, and brilliantly inventive, writer, and this book is sheer delight from beginning to end.'—Ben Fountain, author of Brief Encounters with Che Guevara: Stories and Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
'Steve Yates's stories have that far-underrated quality: range. Yates writes across genres, cultures, sexual borders, and always brings it home. The stories are funny, sad, sometimes wonderfully odd, always inventive and intelligent. Yates is a truly fresh and interesting voice in a time when too often we seem to celebrate the flashy fiction of me, me, me.'—Brad Watson, author of Aliens in the Prime of Their Lives: Stories and The Heaven of Mercury
'In this new collection, Steve Yates exhibits the best kind of ambition—in other words, he's willing to take some big risks. Just when you think you know what's coming, he throws you for yet another loop. I admire his work wholeheartedly, and I hope this book gets all the attention that it and the author deserve. Yates is one tremendous writer.'—Steve Yarbrough, author of Safe from the Neighbors
'The language is totally unlike anything used by myself or any other writer of Ozarks fiction. [Yates's] 'new' style is magic realism at its best.'—Donald Harington, author of The Architecture of the Arkansas Ozarks
'You only have to read one of these stories to know you're in the hands of a master. But I recommend reading them all.'—Tom Franklin, author of Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter, and Hell at the Breech
'Yates surprises often with his range of subjects and moods, with fresh voices and writing styles to complement them all. Some kinds of love and some kinds of work--regular work, job-keeping work--link these generous, thoughtful and inventive tales for the taking.'—Shelf Awareness
'In this sturdy story collection, Yates (Morkan's Quarry) parades a cast of characters who, as diverse as they appear on the surface, have in common an underlying ignorance and mistrust of others. . . . Contrary to what the title suggests, the stories are more about what love is not: misdirected lust and other complex, confounding desires; but also personal and professional ennui and a sort of general angst. Instead of getting their comeuppance though, Yates's clueless characters get laid, get back together, or get a new SUV, which somehow rings true: good things happen to bad people, or more accurately in these cases, things happen to people.'—Publishers Weekly
'This is a collection aimed at adults who pay attention when they read. Don't expect Yates to spoon-feed you anything. Reader participation is required here. Do it and you'll be rewarded.'—The Advocate
'Some Kinds of Love features short stories set on the edge of unbelief.'—Portico Jackson
'It seems as though short stories are a dying art, replaced by a never-ending stream of flash fiction, so it's refreshing to see a collection with hardly a piece shy of five thousand words, especially when they are as expertly crafted as the dozen stories comprising Some Kinds of Love. . . . Yates crafts well-rounded characters whose interests aren't simply those of a twenty-something college kid, as opposed to so much that's out there. Yates's stories focus on the Ozarks and Southern life, but he avoids cliché and familiar scenarios, breathing new life into these locales.'—American Book Review
'Beautifully imagined and written . . . . The author is certainly an intrepid explorer of the human heart.'—Shenandoahliterary.org
'If there is one theme that holds this collection together, it is the ambiguity of humanity. Many of the character's relationships change as the stories go on. . . . Yates wisely ends the stories at their soonest stopping point. . . . And these stories will simmer long after the book has been put down.'—Big Muddy: A Journal of the Mississippi River Valley