Community Klepto

A Novel

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Pub Date Jun 21 2022 | Archive Date May 17 2022

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Description

Ann Josephson is a twenty-five-year-old sociopath whose compulsive kleptomania manifests itself in the most unlikely of places: the community center where she works out every day. The walls of the community center insulate her from the terrors of the outside world, which include her freelance work as a graphic artist; her socialite parents, who pay the better part of her living expenses; her therapist, who devotedly punches the clock; and the dark void of romantic relationships.

As Ann battles the inner demons that plague her millennial psyche, she must also battle the fiends that plague her at the gym: the loudly grunting beefcake who can’t be bothered to drop his weights at a reasonable volume, the naked old lady in the locker room using a towel as butt floss, the housewife in yoga pants that obviate the need for yoga wheeling her double stroller up and down the indoor track. Set in suburban Kansas City in the early 2010's, Community Klepto—a droll combination of Bridget Jones’ Diary and Choke—makes incarnate the characters and shenanigans that go on in every gym in the world.

Ann Josephson is a twenty-five-year-old sociopath whose compulsive kleptomania manifests itself in the most unlikely of places: the community center where she works out every day. The walls of the...


A Note From the Publisher

KELLY I. HITCHCOCK is a literary fiction author and poet who lives in the Austin, Texas, area. She has published several poems, short stories, and creative non-fiction works in literary journals and is the author of the coming-of-age novel The Redheaded Stepchild, a semi-finalist in the literary category for The Kindle Book Review’s “Best Indie Books of 2011,” and Portrait of Woman in Ink: A Tattoo Storybook. Her work has appeared in Clackamas Literary Review and Foliate Oak Literary Journal, in anthologies by Line Zero and Alien Buddha Press, and more. Kelly holds a BA in creative writing from Missouri State University. She has five-year-old identical twins and a full-time job, so writing and picking up LEGO are the only other things she can devote herself to.

KELLY I. HITCHCOCK is a literary fiction author and poet who lives in the Austin, Texas, area. She has published several poems, short stories, and creative non-fiction works in literary journals and...


Advance Praise

“…devilishly fun…A clever, endearing, and funny tale of one woman’s missteps and her efforts to atone.”

Kirkus Reviews

"Filch some time to read this romp—you’ll lock up everything you own."

—MARILYN SIMON ROTHSTEIN, author of Crazy to Leave You

"Hitchcock's writing is visual and her voice is satirical and wry. Community Klepto is a fun read."

—LESLIE A. RASMUSSEN, award-winning author of After Happily Ever After

“…draws you in from the first page. Funny and insightful, the story explores deeper issues about settling into adulthood in our complex and ever-changing society….Hitchcock's latest is not to be missed!"

—JACQUELINE FRIEDLAND, award-winning author of He Gets That From Me and That's Not a Thing


“…devilishly fun…A clever, endearing, and funny tale of one woman’s missteps and her efforts to atone.”

Kirkus Reviews

"Filch some time to read this romp—you’ll lock up everything you own."

—MARILYN...


Available Editions

EDITION Other Format
ISBN 9781647423735
PRICE $16.95 (USD)
PAGES 240

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Average rating from 2 members


Featured Reviews

While this book is about a socially insecure young woman who is in therapy to help her stop being a kleptomaniac, I assure you this book is fun! Ann is constantly pilfering things from her community center’s gym, things that her fellow patrons don’t take the time and effort to secure in a locker. It could be anything: a shirt (whether it will fit Ann or not), a men’s cardigan, whatever is left out in a place Ann can grab it without being noticed. I simply loved the descriptions of the people who patronize this gym and the nicknames Ann gives them, such as Penny Pinterest and Gunther The Grunter. If you have EVER been to a gym, these descriptions will strike a chord with you and will probably make you laugh. Who hasn’t been to a gym where men lift huge weights and bang them down on the floor, to make sure everyone around them notices? Also, her descriptions of the various group classes Ann tries, at the insistence of her therapist, were spot-on and hysterical. And the recreational dodgeball league! Oh my. I’m still laughing.

Thank you to NetGalley and She Writes Press for the opportunity to read an advance readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

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