Praying Drunk was selected as one of Powell’s “Best Short Story Collections of the 21st Century (So Far),” keeping some good company: Junot Diaz, Roberto Bolano, Lorrie Moore, Wells Tower, Jhumpa Lahiri, Alice Munro, Karen Russell, George Saunders, Jess Walter, Lydia Davis, Ben Marcus, David Foster Wallace, and Donald Ray Pollock.