“…a lyric voice that sings itself raw.”
       —The New York Times

“…a master of setting, characterization, dialogue and narrative.”
       —The Dallas Morning News

“A collection of ten, richly written and incredibly well-crafted, interweaving stories… A book to savour and return to.”
       —Bill Howe, a reader in Leeds, England

Blaise Pascal said, “Men never do evil so completely and cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction.” And the Apostle Paul wrote, “We are fools for Christ’s sake.”

So what happens when people apply their religion to life’s hard choices in the small East Texas town of Bethlehem, where churches of various denominations are located on almost every block?

First comes a mysterious apparition of Jesus. Or is it? And is it a blessing or a curse? Then a woman turns into a snake. A wealthy banker confuses prudence with greed, with dire consequences. A woman has her grandchildren secretly baptized at a Holiness Tabernacle. A man is torn between his “sinful” TV watching and his fundamentalist wife. And an ethical young woman boldly confronts her rich father’s ambition…

These are among the characters who appear in this entertaining and superbly written collection of 10 stories exploring small town religion and the human quest for dignity and meaning. Sometimes funny, often tragic, the resulting conflicts are deeply personal yet have social repercussions. In the end, one wonders if organized religion truly helps anyone on a spiritual journey.

But one thing is certain: The award-winning author of these stories profoundly understands the aspirations we all hold and the pitfalls endured as we try to live by our ideals while reconciling ourselves with the competing beliefs of others.

And though the setting is richly specific—the culture of the Deep South—the stories engage us in universal truths as well as universal deceptions.

The author’s writing style has often been compared to Elmore Leonard, James Lee Burke, Cormac McCarthy, and Daniel Woodrell, among others. But his short stories are more reminiscent of Flannery O’Connor or Isaac Bashevis Singer—poetic, powerful, and all too human.

“This wonderful collection of stories goes on my ‘Must Read’ list. I’m recommending it to everyone I know. And I’m giving it away to friends as gifts. The stories are extraordinary. And the writing itself is terrific — clear and direct but also like music.”
       —Mary Ferguson, a reader in the U.S.

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“Wow! I started it today, and he’s knocked my socks off already. Christopher Cook’s writing is lush and deep and evocative and relentlessly forward-driving.”
      —A Reader

“…a master of setting, characterization, dialogue and narrative.”
     —The Dallas Morning News

How does a boy become a man in the Deep South?

Not without a struggle.

This powerful novella of a young boy and his extended family in rural East Texas is reminiscent of Flannery O’Connor and William Faulkner both in the psychological complexity of its storytelling and in the music of its language. There is the boy and the stoic grandfather he worships, the vivacious mother he loves, the emotionally distant unemployed father he both admires and aches for, and the two violent uncles (“half man and half beast”) he fears. In that conflicted setting, the boy wonders what it means to be a man, if he can ever become one, or even if he wants to. After an unexpected killing occurs, the undercurrent of suspense builds to a climactic ending that is both highly dramatic and emotionally charged.

“…a lyric voice that sings itself raw.”
     —The New York Times

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In this award-winning short story, a professional pickpocket in Paris recalls the career he chose as a boy, his early training, and remarkable episodes in his working life. He reveals a nostalgia for an earlier era when even pickpockets showed greater respect for the quality of their craft.

This captivating story—after being rejected by numerous literary magazines in the U.S.—won first prize in a literary competition in France co-sponsored by the Sorbonne University and Paris Transcontinental magazine. It later was included in several anthologies, including Houghton Mifflin’s The Best American Mystery Stories 2003.

This e-book contains a special Author’s Note in which Christopher Cook describes the long, twisting journey of this fascinating story from its creation to its final incarnation on the international stage.

“The Pickpocket” also is available in a bilingual French-English edition, “Le Pickpocket.” You can find information on that edition elsewhere on the website or by clicking on its image in the Amazon panel to the right.

What readers are saying about “The Pickpocket”—

“Beautiful, lyrical prose plus a tale with twists that make you laugh and make you think. O. Henry would love it!”

“Christopher Cook’s grand tale engaged me from the first page… First-rate story telling.”

“A finely crafted tale of a life on the street and living by one’s wits, the complexities of honour amongst thieves and pride in ones craft, but also a meditation on the process of aging, the inevitability of change, and an evocation of the most visited city in the world.”

“I have loved short stories all of my life. A well written one like this makes the world around me disappear.”

“A book you will revisit over the years, and one that may take you to Christopher Cook’s other fascinating works. Trust me. Buy it.”

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