Unexpected humor and tenderness intertwine with loneliness and desire to create a whimsical ambience throughout the stories of Things That Fall from the Sky. In “These Hands,” a male babysitter who claims never to have read Nabokov tells of his relationship, both constraining and exalting, with the small girl in his care. “A Day in the Life of Rumpelstiltskin” is the story of the bisected left half of the famous imp who is searching for his lost sense of wholeness. In “The Ceiling,” a man’s marriage slowly collapses as a massive object appears in the sky over his small town. And “The Jesus Stories” is the tale of a people who believe they can precipitate the Second Coming by telling every imaginable story about Jesus Christ.

Combining the simplicity of fairy tales with the physical and emotional detail of very adult lives, Kevin Brockmeier has found a voice unlike any other for the stories in this glittering collection.