In Sunlight or in Shadow


In Sunlight or in Shadow: Stories Inspired by the Paintings of Edward Hopper is a 2016 anthology of short stories inspired by pictures by the American painter Edward Hopper. It was edited by Lawrence Block and contains 17 stories, each by a different author.

Background

got the idea for the project after finishing an anthology called Dark City Lights. He immediately came up with the title In Sunlight or in Shadow. It is close to the phrase "in sunshine or in shadow" from the song "Danny Boy", but Block thought "sunlight" was more fitting for stories inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper. Block thinks Hopper may be particularly appealing to writers because his paintings do not tell stories, but rather "suggest that there is a story there to be told".
Block began to compile a list of authors to approach the same afternoon. He stressed to them that all types of stories were desirable. According to Block, almost everybody he asked did select a Hopper painting and submit a story inspired by it.

Contents

Reception

Kirkus Reviews wrote that the content in the book "is not cheerful, but the best of it goes deep", and that it "winds up showing how powerful inspiration can be". Publishers Weekly called it a "remarkable collection".