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Leanne Shapton

Guestbook

Guestbook

Ghost Stories

Summary

A tennis prodigy collapses after his wins, crediting them to an invisible, not entirely benevolent presence. A series of ghosts appear at the foot of their former beds, some distraught, some fascinated at the sight of their unfamiliar occupants. A woman returns from a visit to Alcatraz with an uncomfortable feeling. The spirit of a prisoner has attached himself to you, a friend tells her. He sensed the empathy you had for those men.

In more than two dozen stories and vignettes accompanied by an evocative curiosity cabinet of artifacts and images--found photographs, original paintings, Instagram-style portraits-Guestbook presents the glimmering, unsettling evidence that marks our paths through life. Shapton explores the earthly and sublime experience of existence by expanding the traditional ghost story into a new constellation of words and images.