Concerning the Future of Souls: Ninety-Nine Stories of Azrael (Paperback) - Joy Williams

An incisive crash course in philosophy, religion, literature and culture from Pulitzer Prize finalist Joy Williams

Joy Williams offers ninety-nine illuminations on mortality as she brings her powers of observation to Azrael, the Angel of Death and transporter of souls. Balancing the extraordinary and the humble, the bizarre and the beatific, the book presents Azrael as a thoughtful and troubled protagonist as he confronts the holy impossibility of his task, his uneasy relationship with Death and his friendship with the Devil. In this follow-up to Williams' 99 Stories of God, a collection of connected beings - ranging from ordinary people to great artists such as Kafka, Nietzsche, Bach and Rilke to dogs, birds, horses and butterflies - experience the varying fate of the soul, transient yet everlasting. Profound, sorrowful, witty and ecstatic, Concerning the Future of Souls will leave readers awestruck in their confrontation of life in the face of death.

About the Author

Joy Williams is the author of five novels and four short story collections. Among her many honours are a National Book Critics Circle Award, the Kirkus Prize for Fiction, the Paris Review's Hadada Award as well as nominations for the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award.