Walker on Water
Kristiina Ehin
“The sea has frozen over and a walker on water has no business there. But as soon as the ice goes, I’m going to try again. In developing my gift I develop my love. Neither can exist without the other.”
A woman cultivates a knack for walking on water, but is undermined by her husband’s brain, which he removes each night when he returns home from work; a repeat divorcee struggles with the irksome habit of eating her husbands’ arms; a very skeptical dragon wonders what sex is all about--these are the stories of Kristiina Ehin, Estonia’s literary star.
In Walker on Water, Ehin gathers a collection of unforgettable folktales for the 21st Century. Combining elements of surrealism and the fantastical, she prods at the idiosyncrasies of modern relationships, and creates new mythologies for the likes of love, desire, and fidelity. Ilmar Lehtpere's translation renders Ehin's distinctive narratives--always occurring just below the surface of waking life --with confidence, humor and intelligence.
Praise for Walker on Water
"The pages drip in rich images and complex emotions in Kristiina Ehin's wildly imaginative and surrealistic collection WALKER ON WATER. It's Etgar Keret meets Aimee Bender meets Michael Cisco meets Aesop. It's three-headed twins, a woman who inadvertently bites the arms off her husbands, and a Life Story who has a pesky Brain's Monkey. It's a wholly original and revolutionary read."
—Paul Tremblay, author of THE LITTLE SLEEP and A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS
"Wow! I love this book!"
—Mark Mothersbaugh, lead singer of Devo
"Sharp, jarring, and darkly funny, the stories in WALKER ON WATER move seamlessly and defiantly between the real and the surreal, reinventing folklore, redefining fiction, and daringly reexamining relationships."
—Susan Steinberg, author of SPECTACLE
"It’s a wild ride. And a uniquely feminist one. Ehin’s angle on sex, marriage, commitment is refreshingly unromantic. Lovers are interchangeable, easily replaced, all with the same name. This book exists in a culture which feels, amazingly, outside of the patriarchy, outside of heteronormativity. This is the most exciting thing about Ehin: she doesn’t play by the rules. Walker on Water does not feel like a response, a statement, a backlash against something. It is its own game and it does not care what you think a marriage is supposed to look like."
—Maya Lowy, Quaint Magazine
"...a strange and effective work to behold."
—Alexander Helmintoller, ZYZZYVA
"Kristiina Ehin’s stories are metaphors for emotional events, usually ordinary ones like falling in or out of love, but they are sometimes very original metaphors, interesting as fiction in their own right... Kristiina Ehin encourages us to interpret her work while simultaneously hinting that interpretation is not important."
—Madeleine LaRue, Three Percent
