Story Collection

There is a moment early in Are You Happy?, the title story from Lori Ostlund’s new collection, where Phil, the story’s protagonist, reflects on his decision not to bring his partner, Kelvin, with him to visit his dying mother. Because he has not explicitly told his family about Kelvin’s existence and not talked to them about …

When you think Fight Club, you think Tyler Durden. When you think Catcher in the Rye, you think Holden Caulfield. Memorable books simply have memorable characters—the ones so complex that you lose your mind right along with them. And by the end of the book you have married Holden and gone to Tyler’s funeral (before you realize …