Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Certain American States: Stories | 2018 | Catherine Lacey | Buy |
Catherine Lacey’s short story collection “Certain American States: Stories” (2018) brings together fiction that showcases her range as a writer within a shorter format. The stories explore characters in various states of emotional upheaval or quiet desperation, often set against the backdrop of American life in its more mundane and unsettling aspects.
The collection demonstrates Lacey’s ability to create vivid characters and situations within a compressed narrative space. Her prose is precise and her observations sharp, making even the briefest stories feel substantial. Readers familiar with her novels will recognize her interest in loneliness, identity, and the gap between what people show the world and what they actually feel.