In a nimble dance of lightness and gravity, Likes explores the full range and contradictions of our contemporary moment. Through unexpected visitors, Waldorf school fairs, aging indie-film stars, and the Instagram posts of a twelve-year-old, these stories form an engrossing collection that is both otherworldly and suffused with the deceitful humdrum of everyday life.
Do Me gathers the smartest, sexiest fiction and essays from the award-winning journal Tin House. In this collection, the stories do more than just titillate; Tin House authors explore sex from all angles: first moves, breakups, blind gay cruises, furrie conventions, married sex, bad sex, on the phone, and in pools, fun houses, Vegas hotels, and public parks. Hilarious and irreverent, Do Me puts a new spin on bedtime reading and is essential fare for those who crave food for the brain as well as the libido.
When a girl falls into a deep and impenetrable sleep, the borders between her provincial French village and the peculiar, beguiling realm of her dreams begin to disappear: A fat woman sprouts delicate wings and takes flight; a failed photographer stumbles into the role of pornographer; a beautiful young wife grows to resemble her husband's viol. And in their midst travels Madeleine, the dreamer, who is trying to make sense of her own metamorphosis as she leaves home, joins a gypsy circus, and falls into an unexpected triangle of desire and love.
Ms. Beatrice Hempel, English teacher, is new—new to teaching, new to her school, newly engaged, and newly bereft of her devoted father. Overwhelmed by her newness, she struggles to figure out quite what is expected of her—in life and at work. Is it acceptable to introduce swear words into the English curriculum, enlist students to write their own report cards, or bring up personal experiences while teaching a sex-education class? Or not? Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum finds her characters at their most vulnerable, then explores those precarious moments in sharp, graceful prose. Ms. Hempel Chronicles takes the reader on a journey down the rabbit hole to the wonderland of middle school, memory, daydreaming, and the extraordinary business of growing up.
Tin House has become a forerunner of brilliant and fresh contemporary fiction, and this astonishing collection captures some of the most promising literary voices writing today. The anthology includes tastes of Aimee Bender's surreal aesthetic, Miranda July's charming and quirky prose, and Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum heart-stopping and lyrical style. Edited by virtuoso novelist and memoirist Rick Moody, this is not only a collection of great fiction, but also a compendium of awe-inspiring work from women on the cutting edge of literary greatness.
