Dont Kiss Me: Stories

An explosive story collection from a bold, blistering new voice With broken language, deep vernacular, unexpectedly fierce empathy, and a pace thatll break your grannys neck, Lindsay Hunter lures, cajoles, and wrenches readers into the wild world of Dont Kiss Me. Here youll meet Peggy Paula, who works the late shift at Perkins and envies the popular girls who come in to eat french fries and brag about how far they let the boys get with them. Youll meet a woman in her mid-thirties pining for her mean-spirited, abusive boyfriend, Del, a nine-year-old who is in no way her actual boyfriend. And just try to resist the noir story of a reluctant, Afrin-addled detective. Self-loathing, self-loving, and otherwise trapped by their own dumb selves, these characters make one cringe-worthy mistake after another. But for each bone-headed move, Hunter delivers a surprising moment that chokes you up as you peer into what seemed like deep emptiness and discover a profound longing for human understanding. Its the collision of these moments that make this a powerful, alive book. The stories ofDont Kiss Me are united by Hunters singular voice and unflinching eye. By turns crass and tender, heartbreaking and devastatingly funny, her stories expose a world full of characters seemingly driven by desperation, but in the end, theyre the ones who get the last laugh. Hunter is at the forefront of the boldest, most provocative writers working now.