My first time reading Katherine Dunn even though I've had Geek Love on my shelf for years.

The first thing I admire about this book is its inclusion of truly short fiction: stories that are only a few pages long but present a clear vision or scene, conveyed through crisp imagery and description, and that leave you with a distinct impression before moving on and changing gears. "Fanno Creek" and "The Flautist" were like this, and I really enjoyed them both. There are several longer stories, too, that are urgent and compelling from the get-go; my favorites are "In Transit," "Rhonda Discovers Art," and the title story "Near Flesh."

These five stories are the biggest takeaways from the collection for me. The stories gain traction and momentum as readers progress through them; they really start to take off toward the middle, and I appreciate this thoughtful attention to curating the reading experience.

Dunn navigates many different styles and subjects through these stories and I appreciate the range of ideas exhibited here. Not every story worked for me and that's OK because the ones that did will stick with me. I think this collection stands as a great introduction to Katherine Dunn, and it's inspired me to finally read Geek Love.

Geek Love is hands down one of my favorite books ever, and few authors have the same raw odd sincerity that Dunn did; there’s something so stunningly simple and honest about her prose.

This collection of previously unreleased shorts ranges from an epic folklore retelling to an atmospheric and extremely short horror story, and the pendulum of narration swings between first and third person. The stories occasionally spiral into each other neatly, sometimes nearly, and often branch out gently from a theme or concept carried over from another story. They’re all haunting and individual; ripe, delectable morsels of loss, responsibility, anxiety.

I savored each page, and would have gladly kept reading if only we’d been graced with more. These are stories that will sit with me for quite some time.

Immense gratitude to NetGalley & Macmillan for the e-galley of this, it was an absolute honor.