Sex of the Midwest
a novel in stories
by Robyn Ryle
You must sign in to see if this title is available for request. Sign In or Register Now
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date Oct 14 2025 | Archive Date Feb 15 2026
Description
One foggy morning, an email appears in inboxes across the small town of Lanier, Indiana, population 12,234. “Invitation to Participate: Sexual Practices in a Small Midwestern Town,” the subject line reads. A link leads to an extensive survey. But why has Lanier been chosen? And by whom? Street by street and resident by resident–from the Covid-stricken basketball coach, to the bartender finding her way to writing, to the bureaucrat with a vendetta against the hot-dog vendor–the email opens up the secret (and not so secret) lives of one small town, and reveals the surprising complexity of Midwestern life in our post-pandemic times.
A Note From the Publisher
Advance Praise
"I've not been this undone and awed by a short story collection since The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw. Robyn Ryle proves that narrative fearlessness, ambition and radical play reach their highest resonance when foundationed on an ungodly talent and stunning skill. It's impossible to say what's more soul-snatching here: the premises or the writing. It's hard to deliver on what feels like an impossible book to imagine. It's harder to make the writing of that impossible book seem easy, or even inevitable. Robyn Ryle does both. The short story and literary sex are somewhere sweating and smiling, so thankful that they are alive, and in union, again." - Kiese Laymon, New York Times bestselling author of HEAVY: AN AMERICAN MEMOIR
"Ah, the Midwest, home of flatness and reticence. Like the people of Winesburg, Ohio, the residents of Lanier, Indiana, harbor their hopes and fears privately, afraid no one else will understand. Robyn Ryle knows her small town inside and out, celebrating the strange and mundane equally. SEX OF THE MIDWEST isn’t about sex so much as love and loneliness, and, ultimately, belonging." - Stewart O’Nan, award-winning author of EMILY, ALONE
"Set during post-Covid societal reentry, SEX OF THE MIDWEST is proof of the multitudes people contain: quirks, fetishes, gripes, and great depth. With humor and moments of grace, Robyn Ryle depicts young love, new old love, the passage of time, and our remarkable human ability to learn and change. I don’t know if Lanier, Indiana is a real place or not, but these delightful linked stories sure makes it feel real." Daphne Kalotay, Gace Paley prize-winning author of THE ARCHIVIST: STORIES
Marketing Plan
Working with MidasPR for trade reviews, book clubs, and more.
Releasing teasers via publisher Substack newsletter.
Events planned nationally.
Working with partner venues as pop-up bookstores.
Social media promotion.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9798998954702 |
| PRICE | $19.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 232 |
