Sarah Shun-lien Bynum is the author of the novels Ms. Hempel Chronicles, a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award, and Madeleine Is Sleeping, a finalist for the National Book Award and winner of the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize. Her fiction has appeared in many magazines and anthologies, including the New Yorker, Ploughshares, Tin House, The Best American Short Stories, and the O. Henry Prize Stories. The recipient of a Whiting Writers' Award and an NEA Fellowship, she was named one of "20 Under 40" fiction writers by the New Yorker. She lives in Los Angeles.
A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Library Journal, Electric Literature, The
New York Public Library, PopMatters
A Finalist for the Story Prize
Longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize A Best Book of Fall at
Refinery29, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Magazine, Alma
Magazine
A WIRED Ultimate Summer Reading pick
Most Anticipated at Time, WIRED, Lit Hub, PureWow, and The
Millions, and Publishers Lunch "Finely attuned to both sensory and
emotional detail . . . The adjectives that readers often attach to
Bynum's work--'enchanting, ' 'charming, ' 'precise'--are accurate,
but . . . her skills and her sensibility are deeper and darker than
that. The sentences are indeed meticulous, but never for their own
sake; they bring to life characters who possess rich inner lives
even when navigating moments that feel dreamily sinister or
otherworldly . . . Bynum offers her reader inventively landscaped,
beautifully manicured gardens teeming with rewardingly warty
toads."
--Caitlin Horrocks, The New York Times Book Review "Likes
brilliantly captures our current moment . . . Certain authors have
such mastery over the short story form that you never forget the
first time you read their work. Lorrie Moore, for example. Jim
Shepard. Deborah Eisenberg. Add to that impressive list Sarah
Shun-lien Bynum with her new collection, Likes as evidence . . .
Likes is a short-story collection you should read slowly, but it's
so good, each story at such a high-wire level, that you'll wind up
tearing through it and wishing for more."
--Bethanne Patrick, Washington Post "Captures the tensions that
exist between technology, parenthood and growing up . . . The nine
pieces, though rooted in reality, contain unexpected undercurrents
of magic, coalescing into an innovative portrait of modern
living."
--Time "Sparkling, transcendent . . . Each story is delicate and
dazzling in its own way . . . The stories hum with thrilling detail
and are touched here and there by small hints of magic . . . With
the exuberance of the best Elizabeth McCracken stories and the
insight of Tessa Hadley, these tales are at once gorgeously
rendered and empathetic. This has the feel of an instant
classic."
--Publishers Weekly, starred review "Throughout, Bynum combines a
firm command of tone (often warm, even when dark) with precise
detail . . . As clean prose dissects messy lives, these stories
combine an empathetic heart with acute understanding."
--Kirkus, starred review "Despite her frequent use of the language
of myths and fairytales, Bynum's focus is deceptively ordinary.
Time and again, her characters reckon with how--and if--you can
ever really close the gap between yourself and someone else . . .
Likes is a comforting reminder that relationships are often
contradictory."
--Eve Sneider, WIRED "Known for her keen observation of human
nature as well as her wit and humor, these tales investigate the
conundrums of modern American living."
--Jennifer Day, Chicago Tribune "Sarah Shun-lien Bynum not only
makes us see and feel what we may have missed in our busy lives,
but articulates what we see and feel with the precise words we've
always been searching for but rarely find. How does she capture the
world in its shimmery and inexplicable state so deftly? Stories in
this collection lead the readers to feel nostalgic for experiences
both lived and missed, alarmed and yet thrilled by the mysteries
hidden in everyday moments, and above all, hopeful and grateful
that there is no need to compromise: we can live as fully and
expansively as these stories."
--Yiyun Li, author of Where Reasons End "Each of the stories in
Sarah Shun-lien Bynum's dazzling new collection offers lucid
insight into the many perversities, small and large, that define
our most typical interactions. From a father confused by his
adolescent daughter's social media persona to a writer dealing with
the lingering effects of a miscarriage, Bynum's stories probe the
fragile, confusing moments of our lives, and tease out the
underlying thrums of energy, magnifying all the emotion that exists
just below the surface, illuminating what it means to be alive
right now."
--Kristin Iversen, Refinery29 "Nine of the author's greatest short
stories. In settings that range from a Waldorf school fair to the
Instagram page of a twelve-year-old, the characters in these
stories move through adolescence, childhood, and parenthood, all
while dealing with the miseries of life under late capitalism."
--Thomas Beckwith, The Millions "Oh, what a treasure trove of
delights this is! The most succulent details are tucked inside the
warmth of these characters' voices, and it is Bynum's governing and
generous intelligence that gives shape to their stories, always
holding close and with care our complex yearnings and desires."
--Aimee Bender, author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake
"Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum's mastery of the short story form is on
immediate display in her new collection, Likes. [She] is
exceptionally skilled at subtle shifts and seemingly casual details
. . . Bynum can wring suspense from the slightest
interactions."
--Jackie Thomas-Kennedy, Minneapolis Star Tribune "In this
collection of nine stories, ideal for fans of Tessa Hadley and
Lauren Groff, Bynum explores the contradictions of modern life in
stories about friendship, parenthood, celebrity and more."
--Sarah Stiefvater, PureWow "These stories caught me in the throat.
Everything I thought to be true--about home invaders and husbands,
BFFs and rich hippie schools--is revealed to be temporary,
spectral, fragile as glass. Likes is a cunning, electrifying work
by one of the best writers of our times."
--Danzy Senna, author of Caucasia and New People "A wonderful short
story collection . . . In each story, there's an element of the
otherworldly and magical -- there's one story about an ancient king
-- but each stays firmly rooted in astute observations of our
reality: of how a teenage girl acts on social media; of how a Black
writer on a crime show has to navigate his identity and his desire
for a promotion; of a mom wanting her child to have a good
education, and more. Every time I got to the end of the story, I
wished it would keep going."
--Emily Burack, Alma "Amusingly examines the contradictions and
complexities of our modern moment with cutting portrayals of
Waldorf school fairs, tween Instagrammers, and aging indie-film
starlets."
--Malia Mendez and Hailey Eber, Los Angeles Magazine "For fans of
Aimee Bender, Karen Russell, Joy Williams, and all that is
good."
--Emily Temple, Lit Hub
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