{"product_id":"are-you-here-for-what-im-here-for-9781942658122","title":"Are You Here for What I'm Here For?","description":"\"A brilliant debut.\" --\u003cb\u003eCHARLES BAXTER\u003c\/b\u003e, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Soul Thief\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThere's Something I Want You to Do\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe suspense creeps in and takes hold in seven stories about troubled characters grappling with rare illnesses, menacing chance encounters, sexual awakening, impending natural disasters, and New Age cults. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWithin these pages, the everyday meets the uncanny as two high school friends go out for one unforgettable night. A boy, haunted by dreams of a catastrophic flood, becomes swept up in an encephalitis epidemic. A hypochondriac awaits her diagnosis at a Caribbean health resort. A disease researcher meets his nemesis on a train. A father searches for his missing son in a remote mountain lodge where nothing is quite as it seems. An elderly pharmacist protects his adopted nephew, who found a mermaid in a bottle, from a coastal village gripped by hysteria. A teenager is sent to a \"therapeutic\" boarding school with disturbing methods and is reunited with a staff member years later. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEven at its most surreal, this polished and lyrical debut remains grounded in the emotional lives of people teetering atop widening chasms of confusion and doubt. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eBrian Booker\u003c\/b\u003e's stories have been published in the \u003ci\u003eNew England Review\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eConjunctions\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eOne Story\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eTin House\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eVice\u003c\/i\u003e, and elsewhere. He holds an MFA from the Iowa Writers' Workshop and a PhD in English from New York University, and has been a fiction fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and at the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing. He teaches creative writing at the University of Chicago. \u003ci\u003eAre You Here For What I'm Here For?\u003c\/i\u003e is his first collection of fiction.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bellevue Literary Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/10\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781942658122\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 256\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.70lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.20h x 5.50w x 0.70d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/15\/2016\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 03\/21\/2016\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Brian Booker","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":38018335310005,"sku":"9781942658122","price":14.41,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_0cdf16cf-785b-4bea-9db9-570ffc836236.jpg?v=1609169159","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/are-you-here-for-what-im-here-for-9781942658122","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}