EXCERPTS FROM SENSATION MACHINES:
First two chapters at TOR.COM
Excerpt at Lit Hub
Excerpt at Inside Hook
Excerpt at The Brooklyn Rail
Excerpt at Nu? Detroit
NEW STORIES:
“Risa at the Beach” - The Kenyon Review
“Zali’s Dog” - Audible Originals (Audio only)
“Last Hurrah” - BOMB
STORIES FROM WHAT'S IMPORTANT IS FEELING:
"What's Important Is Feeling" - Paris Review no. 199 (Paywall) and Best American Short Stories 2012
"December Boys Got It Bad" - Tin House issue 53
"Some Nights We Tase Each Other" - VICE
This is a much shorter version of this story than the one that appears in the collection. I prefer the version that's in the book, but if you're familiar with that one, it's interesting to see how stories are edited by specific publications, as this one really got the VICE treatment.
"Tell Me" - The Literary Review
"America Is Me and Andy" - The Literary Review (originally published in Word Riot)
"The Long In Between" - Electric Literature's Recommended Reading (Paywall) with an introduction by Heidi Julavits
"Soft Thunder" - eBook
"We Close Our Eyes" - Washington Square Review Issue 27
"Things I Had" - Meridian Issue 25
"The Porchies" - Promised Lands: New Jewish Fiction on Longing and Belonging
"Sluts at Heart" - The Coffin Factory Issue 2 (as "That Underlying Want")
"Milligrams" - Cousin Corinne's Reminder Issue 2
UNCOLLECTED STORIES:
"Testimonial" - Gigantic Worlds
"The Parentheses" - Assignment Magazine Issue 1 (excerpt)
"The New Me" - The New York Tyrant Vol. 3 No. 3
This is one I like a lot that got cut out of the collection. My editor only wanted one super short one in there, and we went with "America Is Me and Andy", which I think was the right choice. This one came about during a period of intense interest in some of the later Lish writers, particularly Gary Lutz, and it feels a bit derivative upon rereading. Still, I think there are some good moments.
"Idaho" - elimae
Another story heavily influenced by the Lish school of writing. I think I wrote it after reading Christine Schutt's story "Drive" in Victoria Redel's class in graduate school. I really pushed to include this one in the collection, but my editor thought the book had already reached its quota of crassness. This was originally published in elimae, which was a great flash fiction site that is sadly defunct. Luckily, the archives are still available online.
"Basslines" - Forty Stories: New Writing from Harper Perennial (Free ebook)
This story dates all the way back to undergrad, and I think I used it as part of my grad school application. It makes me cringe a bit--I had clearly been reading ONLY Raymond Carver for about a year when I wrote it. Still, I think there are some good moments.
"Brunch DJ" - Gigantic Issue. 1