Hallman is the author of the short story collection, The Hospital for Bad Poets. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University. His work has appeared in GQ, Boulevard, Prairie Schooner, and a number of other journals and anthologies. His stories are inventive, literary, and profound. Never liked short stories? Give this collection a shot. "A hard-eyed look at the mess we humans have made of our earthly home, J.C. Hallman's stories also trace with rare delicacy the tentative approaches each alienated soul makes toward another. The writing throughout is polished, witty, and fiery." --Jean McGarry, author of "A Bad and Stupid Girl" "Hallman's understanding of the depth of human suffering equals his fiendish wit: "The Hospital for Bad Poets" marks an inventive debut into the world of the allusive." --Edie Meidav, author of "Crawl Space" "These shrewd, oblique stories run the gamut from the romance of microbiology to illicit trysts in hedgerows. Along the way, Hallmanskewers modern life with the toolkit left behind by Donald Barthelme, Shirley Jackson, and a monkey wrench borrowed from Rod Serling. At bottom, "The Hospital for Bad Poets" is filled with mysteries and delights." --Brent Spencer, author of "Are We Not Men?" "What I like most about Hallman is his surreal depiction of American life and love. Somehow he's able to find the strangeness in the familiar and the familiar in the strange. The result is a compelling collection rich with insights and ironies. This is fiction at its weirdest and most wonderful." --Jonis Agee, author of "The River Wife"