A complete collection of stories, old and new, by the legendary writer Gary Lutz

Acclaimed writer Gary Lutz introduces a new cast of characters in his second collection: wayward fusspots, smart alecks, tank-town boulevardiers, lonely hearts, and underloved, unstable creatures of questionable gender. Desperate for human connection, they listen through walls and engage in such obsessions as collecting hairs left behind by lovers. These 24 passionately and intricately rendered stories secure Lutz's place at the forefront of the contemporary fiction of disaffection.

Fiction. DIVORCER is a collection of seven harrowing and hyperprecise short stories about ruinous relationships and their aftershocks.

Like a cracked crystal ball tagged with black spray paint, these discomforting and darkly hilarious stories unveil a past, present, and future of unexplainable yet bizarrely poetic prophesies and moods. In ninety-five flash fictions, Shane Kowalski's SMALL MOODS presents lovers, dogs, bathtubs, hands, jewels, bananas, peasant boys, cuckolds, Jesus, dildoes, shoes, nudes, cults, sadness, the movie Carrie, and much much more. Can you imagine a love child of Lydia Davis and Richard Brautigan? How about Russell Edson's ghost having tea with Diane Williams? Reading SMALL MOODS is like entering a weird and private room of reject fairy tales and goofball fables. It's a room that belongs to Shane Kowalski, and he is welcoming you with strong, open, sweat-drenched arms. Don't be afraid. He made you something. "I am in love with this weird, gross, hilarious, beautiful book, and with Shane Kowalski's cursed sentences, which enchant you, seduce you, then drop you off in hell. Every story is a perfect little snow globe of sidesplitting misery."--J. Robert Lennon, author of Pieces for the Left Hand and Let Me Think Fiction.

'Fascinating ...Pitman skillfully navigates the complicated history of our addiction to fair hair, skipping through the centuries with an elegant touch' Independent 'Riveting ... provocative ... ON BLONDES is ultimately a study of power-and powerlessness-between the sexes ... travelling undercover, this brunette produced a book which, like its subject, is wonderfully enlightening' Telegraph In art and literature, in history and popular culture, blonde has never been a mere colour. For 2,500 years, it has been a blazing signal and around this obsession entire industries have developed, influential trends set. From Greek prostitutes mimicking the golden-haired Aphrodite, to the Californian beach babe; from pigeon-dung and saffron dyes to L'Oreal - because you're worth it - we see the lengths to which women will go to become blonde. The power and duality of the blonde as either erotic symbol or saintly virgin waxes and wanes but never disappears. Weaving a story rich in anecdote, history and high intrigue, Joanna Pitman effortlessly combines the wealth of her knowledge with a sharp and clear-sighted view of the power of the blonde throughout the ages.

Fiction. Like an expanded Dictionary of Received Ideas, THE BOOK OF FREAKS takes its subject matter from everyday life. Both hilarious and poker-faced in equal measures, this faux encyclopedia categorizes mundanities and renders them starkly unexpected. From circus freaks, to nationalities, to you and everyone you've ever met, THE BOOK OF FREAKS points out what we already knew, but never acknowledged: every one of us, in our own little ways, is a weirdo. THE BOOK OF FREAKS is bewildering in a good way—a bluntly informational yet oddly poetic tour de force. "Jamie Iredell can spin around with a disc in his hand and then throw that disc incredible distances. He can also do freakish things with words."—Michael Kimball