The Soho Press Book of '80s Short Fiction

Praise for The Soho Press Book of ’80s Short Fiction

“It was the decade when the short stories that appeared in magazines demanded to be read, and not only by other writers. Odd-cornered in form, their prose unshowy, they spoke straightforwardly of grittier experiences, of things like class and substance abuse and bad sex. They were tender. And yet they had an effect not unlike a blade to the heart.”
—Vogue

“The Soho Press Book of 80s Short Fiction, edited by Dale Peck, delivers 34 seminal stories about pickup artists, gender benders, working-class heroes, and zonked-out dreamers that seem tailor-made for this bumptious election year.”
—Elle Magazine

“The year’s best anthology collects some of the most enduring fiction of the 1980s. And it’s fronted by a bravura essay from Dale Peck on the decade’s politics and art. Indispensable.”
—Flavorwire

“A diverse collection of short stories from the politicized decade of Reagan and the AIDS crisis…Features work from luminaries like Raymond Carver, Eileen Myles, Denis Johnson, and Jamaica Kincaid, as well as important ’80s writers who may have faded from memory but whom we shouldn’t forget.”
—Thrillist

“[The Soho Press Book of ’80s Short Fiction] avoids cliché or nostalgia in favor of an unexpected and refreshingly inclusive point of view. Peck’s collection masterfully evokes the range and diversity of its era.”
—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“With an emphasis on gay and lesbian authors, Peck has assembled a powerful collection that celebrates writers who “found strength in the very traits that had been used to vilify them.”
—Booklist

“This is a thoughtful, provocative, and important anthology highlighting a seminal decade in the written arts. The author Dale Peck, its editor, has chosen each piece with care and much discernment.”
—A&U Magazine