In this collection of twelve unforgettable short stories, Lara Stapleton writes from the same precarious emotional plane where her characters live. She writes about people living in a world that forces them to recreate daily their small corner of hope. These are people who don't quite fit; who often seem just a little out of step with their circumstances; who have a past to run from but no clear future to run to; who live in the present with the pure ache of longing. They are complex: defiant and helpless, isolated and exposed, sometimes painfully self-aware, sometimes lagging behind the curve.

A gutsy, emotionally astute collection of stories that walks the reader over the hot coals of unnamed desire.- Ginu Kamani, author ofJunglee Girl

Lara Stapleton takes us to a world in which everyone is intensely human and vulnerable, whether they are roaming the climate-controlled megamalls of Manila or the desolate streets of a Midwest town...With the precision of a microsurgeon, Stapleton dissects the subtle frustrations of the heart, picking out details and tell-tale cracks that make life seem so fragile, and therefore dear. The stories inThe Lowest Blue Flame Before Nothingare an unflinching look into lives of quiet desperation, and an auspicious debut for its young author.-Eric Gamalinda, editor,Flippin': Filipinos on America