I’m the author of three story collections and eleven novels, including BUZZ KILL, SUBDIVISION, and BROKEN RIVER, and I live and teach in Ithaca, New York.
My books are listed below. Read my blog Literambivalence, or sign up to receive it as a newsletter. Listen to my musical projects here. EPOCH is the literary magazine I edit along with my Cornell graduate students. Click here to follow me on Bluesky.
My literary writing is represented by Jim Rutman at SLL. Josie Freedman at CAA handles film/TV rights. You may send an email to me here.
«§» NOVELS AND STORY COLLECTIONS
BUZZ KILL, Mulholland, 2025. A sequel to HARD GIRLS. Preorder from Bookshop.
HARD GIRLS, Mulholland, 2024. A thriller about two sisters with a shared traumatic past who reunite to find their mother. Buy from Bookshop.
SUBDIVISION, Graywolf, 2021. An unnamed woman checks into a guesthouse in a mysterious district known only as the Subdivision. Buy from Bookshop.
LET ME THINK, Graywolf, 2021. Short stories. Buy from Bookshop.
MISTRANSLATIONS AND MEETING NOTES, Barrelhouse, 2020. A chapbook of prose poems. Print edition is sold out. Download from Barrelhouse.
THE GREAT ZOMBINI, 2019. Illustrated short stories in collaboration with Lou Beach. Buy the ebook from Amazon.
BROKEN RIVER, Graywolf, 2017. A family grapples with the consequences of a murder that took place in the remote house they just bought. Buy from Bookshop.
SEE YOU IN PARADISE, Graywolf, 2014. Short Stories. Buy from Bookshop.
FAMILIAR, Graywolf, 2012. A grieving mother falls into a parallel universe where her son is still alive. Buy from Bookshop.
CASTLE, Graywolf, 2009. A man buys a plot of land, only to discover that it contains an abandoned castle, and the secrets of his past. Buy from Bookshop.
PIECES FOR THE LEFT HAND, Graywolf, 2009. 100 very short stories. Buy from Bookshop.
HAPPYLAND, 2006. A wealthy woman has secret plans for the small town she has just moved to. Buy the ebook from Amazon.
MAILMAN, Norton, 2003. A frenetic bildungsroman about a doomed postal carrier. Buy from Bookshop.
ON THE NIGHT PLAIN, Holt, 2001. After the Second World War, a man despairs on a Great Plains sheep ranch. Buy the ebook from Amazon.
THE FUNNIES, Riverhead, 1999. A failed installation artist inherits his father's syndicated comic strip, and reunites with his dysfunctional family. Buy the ebook from Amazon.
THE LIGHT OF FALLING STARS, Riverhead, 1997. The lives of five people are changed by a plane crash in a small Montana town. Buy the ebook from Amazon.
«§» ANTHOLOGIES
THE 2024 SHORT STORY ADVENT CALENDAR, Hingston & Olsen, 2024. More info here.
CRITICAL HITS, Graywolf, 2023. Co-edited with Carmen Maria Machado, literary nonfiction about video games. Buy from Bookshop.
SMALL ODYSSEYS: SELECTED SHORTS PRESENTS 35 NEW STORIES, Algonquin, 2023. Fiction from the long-running radio show. Buy from Bookshop.
THE 2019 SHORT STORY ADVENT CALENDAR, Hingston & Olsen, 2019. More info here.
MINOR CHARACTERS, Roundabout, 2019. Buy direct here.
TINY CRIMES, Catapult, 2018. Very short crime stories. Buy from Bookshop.
PIE & WHISKEY: WRITERS UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF BUTTER & BOOZE, Sasquatch, 2017. Stories featuring the titular treats. Buy from Bookshop.
THE 2016 SHORT STORY ADVENT CALENDAR, Hingston & Olsen, 2016. More info here.
GIGANTIC WORLDS, Gigantic, 2015. Very short science fiction stories. Buy from Amazon.
A BOOK OF UNCOMMON PRAYER, Outpost19, 2015. A book of “everyday evocations” inspired by the Anglican text. Buy from Amazon.
FAKES. Norton, 2012. Formal fiction experiments based on practical texts. Buy from Bookshop.
SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS, Fantagraphics, 2012. Short stories inspired by real objects. Buy from Amazon.
THE BEST AMERICAN NONREQUIRED READING 2011, Mariner, 2011. Buy from Amazon.
WHAT’S YOUR EXIT?, Word Riot, 2010. Writing about New Jersey. Buy from Amazon.
THE EMPTY PAGE, Serpent’s Tail, 2009. Stories inspired by Sonic Youth.
WHO CAN SAVE US NOW?, The Free Press, 2008. Superhero stories. Buy from Bookshop.
THE FLASH, Social Disease, 2007. Very short stories. Buy from Amazon.
SO, WHAT KEPT YOU?, Flambard, 2006. Stories inspired by Chekhov and Carver. Buy from Amazon.
DON’T FORGET TO WRITE, 826 Valencia, 2005. Short fiction, combined with writing prompts and assignments for teenagers. Buy from Amazon.
THE BEST AMERICAN SHORT STORIES 2005, Houghton Mifflin, 2005. Buy from Bookshop.
PRIZE STORIES 2000: THE O. HENRY AWARDS, Anchor, 2000. Buy from Bookshop.
«§» OTHER THINGS
LA JETEE, libretto, 2023. Opera adaptation of the 1962 Chris Marker film, with composer Seth Boustead. Watch on YouTube.
SELECTED SHORTS: GREAT ESCAPES, radio show, 2022. Actor Stephen Lang performs my story “Escape Pod W41.” Listen here.
WORKING, podcast, 2022. I talk about submitting work to literary magazines, from an editor’s and writer’s perspective. Listen here.
SELECTED SHORTS: FOOD FIGHTS, radio show, 2020. Actor Kyle McLachlan performs my story “Breadman.” Listen here.
TURNABOUT: A STORY GAME, interactive fiction board game made for the Peabody Essex Museum, 2019. See it here.
J. ROBERT LENNON’S FIRST TIME, video, 2015. From the PARIS REVIEW series in which writers talk about their first book. Watch on YouTube.
UNFORGETTABLE, TV series loosely based on a short story I wrote, 2011-2016. Read about it here.
TONTO REVEALED, interview with recording engineer Malcolm Cecil in TapeOp, 2004. With friends Trevor Pinch and James Spitznagel. Read it here.
