Ben Marcus

"Thirteen transfixing new stories from one of the most innovative writers of his generation and one of the most vital and original voices of our time--for fans of George Saunders, Nathan Englander, and Elizabeth Strout. In these thirteen ingenious stories, Ben Marcus reveals moments of redemption in the sometimes nightmarish modern world. In "The Grow-Light Blues," a hapless, corporate drone finds love after being disfigured testing his employer's...

On a midwestern farm, an unusual couple attempts a radical experiment in child rearing by raising a boy without feelings, who narrates his own story and views of the hidden world of women, until the arrival of Jane Dark, a woman whose fierce belief in silence turns the family upside down.

Presents twenty of the best works of short fiction of the past year from a variety of acclaimed sources.