States — Jennifer Pashley

About her debut collection of short stories, esteemed writers have these observations: "The world in Jennifer Pashley's stories is wicked and seriously out-of-whack, remarkable and delicious-you never know who you're going to run into. Pashley writes quick, tough dialog that cuts hard and scars, and her stories put you in places and circumstances you have little chance of getting to otherwise. She asks you to pay attention and use your imagination, and then treats you to the real pleasures of fiction, of character, of remarkable people in difficult times. Her work always stuns." - Frederick Barthelme "Jennifer Pashley's 'States' imagines human desire in all its heart-breaking complexity: the mysteries, disguises, aggressions, disappointments, ecstasies. The contemporary narrators of these stories - men and women mostly in their 20s and 30s - are disturbed and disturbing, smart but rarely knowing. They are, as one puts it, 'unraveling with desire.' States is a riveting, accomplished, and immensely satisfying first collection." - David Lloyd, author of Boys, Stories and a Novella "Precise. Blunt. Funny. Scary. Bleak. An inviting and well-carved debut." - Aimee Bender