
All We Could Have Been and More
by Joshua Shaw
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Pub Date 29 Jul 2023 | Archive Date 31 Aug 2023

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Description
Tartt First Fiction Award! Zombie ant fungus, self-conscious crash test dummies—you surely understand the black humor focus of this collection. The author recently commented, “A lot of the stuff I'm publishing these days in philosophy involves defenses of pessimism and misanthropy. I credit the last few elections for inspiring this new research line.”
A Note From the Publisher
26th Tartt First Fiction Award Winner!
Advance Praise
TARTT FIRST FICTION AWARD
TARTT FIRST FICTION AWARD
Marketing Plan
Review copies, ads, author readings.
Available Editions
EDITION | Paperback |
ISBN | 9781604893472 |
PRICE | $17.95 (USD) |
PAGES | 134 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews

this was a unique concept for a collection, I was hooked from the first page and really enjoyed how good this was. Joshua Shaw has a great writing style and his writing did everything that I was looking for. The characters were great and the concept worked just in the way I wanted.
"Halfway through my incantation the words fail me. I can’t explain it. I’m gazing at the boy’s face as I chant, idly contemplating, I suppose, the things one wonders about when gazing on the face of someone who has passed. First kisses. Biggest regrets. How the world tasted to this now-lost privacy. How similar to one’s own world’s taste?"

Pretty good collection of stories. As usual, I liked some more than others. With a few exceptions, short story collections don't sell well, so I hope this find an audience.
Thanks very much for the free copy for review!!

All We Could Have Been and More contains a collection of short stories that fluctuate in quality from great to what the heck is going on.
Test Zombie, Kill him, and Bed. Just Right would be my favourites, although there will be a lot of different viewpoints leading undoubtedly to discussions in book clubs.
An independent review for NetGalley / Livingston Press

Some interesting ideas in this collection, with a few stand-out stories like the one about the woman who brings home a bear (*Parks and Wildlife*), as well as the story from which the title of the collection comes, *Best of All Possible Worlds*. Although this was an enjoyable enough read, I didn’t connect with the collection as much as I had hoped; I think I’ve come to expect much more from Weird Fiction, and not enough of these stories delivered. Perhaps another reader would enjoy them more.
Thank you to NetGalley and to Livingston Press for the ARC.
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