In Forest for the Trees & Other Stories, Mathieu Cailler delivers a diverse collection of fifteen shorts that perfectly captures characters steeped in their own troubles. With clear and pointed prose, Cailler creates a conduit through which readers experience the characters’ sufferings, losses, revelations, their moments of connection, and their snippets of happiness. The author’s experimentation with voice and point of view makes this collection honest and accessible, allowing readers to feel true compassion by better understanding others and the imperfect world we all inhabit.
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What they’re saying about the book
"Mathieu Cailler is one of the most multi-talented writers in the United States, and he's brought his talents to a collection of stories that offer deep connections to the human condition. It's a great read for any season."
— Bruce Haring, Director of the Paris Book Festival
"Using bright prose and a heartfelt, empathetic eye, Mathieu Cailler enters the shadows of everyday relationships to reveal the desperate love and clinging lies that his complex characters offer each other to survive. Forest for the Trees is a story collection for a time in which so many souls hunger for connection. A tremendous read."
— Sophfronia Scott, author of Wild, Beautiful, and Free and The Seeker and the Monk
"Mathieu Cailler, the most versatile writer I know, has done it again. This short story collection is yet another must read, a must own to reside on our bookshelves and nightstands."
— T.D. Johnston, award-winning author of Reciprocity, Friday Afternoon and Other Stories, and Weeding for Eisenhower: Stories
Winner of the top prize for General Fiction at the 2023 Paris Book Festival
Debuted as the No. 1 new release on Amazon in Contemporary Literature & Fiction category
Five-star review from Readers’ Favorite
Runner-up honors in the General Fiction category at the 2024 Southern California Book Festival
Events for Forest for the trees
Friday, January 19: Palos Verdes Library, Panel on Publishing with Jimin Ha, Rosa Kwan Easton, and Leland Cheuk
Friday, February 16: Skylight Books in conversation with William R. Hincy
Tuesday, March 5th: Book Club in Palos Verdes
Saturday, March 9th: Beyond Baroque in conversation with Laura Warrell and Shonda Buchanan
Thursday, March 21st: Trenches Full of Prose, a reading with Mathieu Cailler at Page Against the Machine in Long Beach
media
Interview with The Coachella Review, which describes the book as "intimate moments of people’s quiet suffering, their little joys, losses, and revelations."
Review in the Midwest Book Review, which calls the collection "ambitious... with an incredible range of plots, styles, characters."
Mathieu Cailler discusses Forest for the Trees and his other works on an episode of the Y'All Show Podcast
An interview with Mathieu Cailler about Forest for the Trees and his writing philosophy in Bold Journey Magazine
An interview with Mathieu Cailler about his writing roots and a reading of "A Little off the Top," one of the short stories in Forest for the Trees, in Short Story Today
A reading from Forest for the Trees by Mathieu Cailler in F-BOMB Global Flash Fiction
A Q&A with Mathieu Cailler in Black Fox Literary Magazine
about the author
Mathieu Cailler is the author of seven books: one novel, two short story collections, two volumes of poetry, and two children’s titles. His stories, poems, and essays have appeared in over one hundred publications, including the Saturday Evening Post and the Los Angeles Times. He is the recipient of numerous awards, most notably the Shakespeare Award, the Short Story America Prize, the New England Book Festival Award, the Los Angeles Book Festival Prize, the Paris Book Festival Prize and the Pushcart Prize. For more info, connect with him on Twitter or at mathieucailler.com.