Lost on Purpose — Amy Prior

From the "shifting tableaux" of Whitman's Manhattan to Joyce's beloved Dublin, the city has inspired, captured, and seized writers since the beginning. In this spirit comes Lost on Purpose, a vibrant new collection of short fiction by young women whose characters are held in thrall by urban life: by the intricate virtual connections between disparate Londoners; by the painful magic of first love in Beijing; and by the ghosts that inhabit Los Angeles' Echo Park. Lost on Purpose includes original fiction from writers like Cris Mazza, Ayun Halliday, Courtney Eldridge, and Ariel Gore, and spins tales that range from sideways love stories to the painful honesty of strangers to the dramatic unveiling of the truth behind a seemingly ordinary day in the city.