Reading order
| # | Title | Published | Author | Buy on Amazon |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Manual for Cleaning Women | 1977 | Lucia Berlin | Buy |
| 2 | Evening in Paradise | 1981 | Lucia Berlin | Buy |
| 3 | Angel’s Laundromat | 1981 | Lucia Berlin | Buy |
| 4 | Phantom Pain | 1984 | Lucia Berlin | Buy |
| 5 | Safe & Sound | 1988 | Lucia Berlin | Buy |
| 6 | Homesick | 1990 | Lucia Berlin | Buy |
| 7 | So Long | 1993 | Lucia Berlin | Buy |
| 8 | Where I Live Now | 1999 | Lucia Berlin | Buy |
Lucia Berlin published eight short story collections during and after her lifetime. Her earlier books, like Angel’s Laundromat (1981) and Phantom Pain (1984), were released by small presses and had limited distribution.
A Manual for Cleaning Women, originally published in 1977 and republished in 2015, became her best-known book. Evening in Paradise (1981) was later reissued as a companion volume. Together, these collections contain the full range of Berlin’s fiction about working-class life, addiction, family, and displacement.