Synopses & Reviews
The city demands a certain intensity from its inhabitants, a slavish devotion repaid by the slow and inevitable unveiling of limitless possibility. And as city dwellers, we go from work to record shop to supermarket to theme bar, somehow, through the fog of the faceless, finding connections. We find neighbors, we find love affairs and friends; we become enmeshed in hopeless situations and delicate, tragic emotional spirals. In this spirit comes "Lost on Purpose, a vibrant new collection of short fiction by young women whose characters are held in thrall by an urban existence: by the intricate virtual connections between disparate Londoners; by the painful magic of first love in a squatter's Beijing; and by the tender border that keeps San Diego from Mexico, separating a life lived from what's to come. Including original fiction from writers like Elizabeth Graver, Tara Ison, and Ariel Gore, "Lost on Purpose spins tales both glittering and gritty, capturing the essence of city life.
Synopsis
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.