From the author of the acclaimed short story collection The Ascent of Eli Israel, and the warm, funny and heart-wrenching novel I Am My Beloveds, here are 14 searing, deeply-immersive stories that will forever change the way you look at the human experience.Profound and magical, dark and disturbing, Papernick's stories are always challenging and brave. Whether he is writing stiletto-sharp flash fiction or a novella-length historical drama, Papernick's characters are rendered with t...

From the streets of modern Israel to the barrooms of Brooklyn to a suburban New England synagogue, the characters in these 10 stories search for love and acceptance in a world scarred by loss and loneliness. In "The Madonna of Temple Beth Elohim," an Iraq war veteran sees a vision of the Virgin Mary on the eve of the Jewish high holidays. In "My Darling Sweetheart Baby," a working-class drunk waits on his stoop for his disability check and the courage to proclaim his love to a local prosti...

Ben Seidel wasn't sure how serious they were when he and his wife Shira discussed having an open marriage. But when Shira announces that she is going on a date with Liz, any ambiguity evaporates. Suddenly, every day is new terrain for Ben, navigating between keeping things together with Shira and exploring new partners. And when one of those new partners begins to matter to him more than he ever anticipated, he discovers that the complexities of this new life are only just beginning.

In a land where sudden death is an everyday fact of life, a boy dodges bullets and searches through rubble for news of his soldier father. A middle-aged man comforts his Holocaust-survivor mother as she faces senility, convinced that Nazis are conspiring against her. And the mysterious biblical red heifer makes a startling appearance in the midst of a decidedly contemporary struggle.In these unsettling tales, the remarkable Jon Papernick transports us to modern-day Israel, a countr...

Ben Seidel wasn't sure how serious they were when he and his wife Shira discussed having an open marriage. But when Shira announces that she is going on a date with Liz, any ambiguity evaporates. Suddenly, every day is new terrain for Ben, navigating between keeping things together with Shira and exploring new partners. And when one of those new partners begins to matter to him more than he ever anticipated, he discovers that the complexities of this new life are only just beginning.

Matthew Stone has inherited a troubling legacy: a gangster grandfather and a distant father - who is also a disgraced judge. After his father's death, Matthew is a young man alone. He turns to his father's beloved books for comfort, perceiving within them guidance that leads him to connect with a group of religious extremists. As Matthew immerses himself in this unfamiliar world, the FBI seeks his assistance to foil the group's violent plot. Caught between these powerful forces, haunted by...

Building on the evocative chill captured by 2024's Winter in the City, editors R.B. Wood and Anna Koon are back with a spectacular multicultural lineup to explore Spring in the City— yet wildflowers aren't the only things finding their way through cracked concrete in these dark speculative tales.Even in the shadows of skyscrapers, spring sees an awakening in the concrete jungle that we call "the city."Spring in the City: A Collection of ...

In the first volume of the In the City anthology series, editors R.B. Wood and Anna Koon bring you new tales from eighteen authors both established and debut, including Sam Rebelein, Sarah Read, Bracken MacLeod, Gwendolyn Kiste, and more.The city.Noisy, crowded, and ever in motion, the city can be more than a setting— it can be a character, as nuanced and as fickle as a human being, with as many traits and quirks as the best mapped-out characters. Th...