By turns witty and profoundly thought-provoking, the stories that comprise Why Visit America provide timely and fascinating commentaries on the state of modern America and beyond.
Signed Edition
A standard edition is available here
Whatever the neighbours insisted would be worth keeping a body for, he always responded that he would still prefer to live as data. A young man breaks the news to his family that he is going to transition from an analogue body to a digital existence. A young woman abducts a child - her own - from a government-run childcare facility. The citizens of Plainfield, Texas, have had it with the United States. So they decide to secede, rename themselves America in memory of their former country, and set themselves up to receive tourists from their closest neighbour: America.
The stories in Matthew Baker's collection portray a world within touching distance of our own. This is an America riven by dilemmas confronting so many of us - from old age to consumerism, drugs to internet culture - turned on its head by one of the most darkly innovative and defiantly strange voices of the moment.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN: 9781526629463
Number of pages: 368
Dimensions: 234 x 153 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Matthew Baker is the rarest of writers, one who can turn complex, high-concept stories into sublime character-driven psalms. His work is both highly original and refreshingly human' - Noah Hawley, creator of Fargo
'Baker's writing is taut yet lyrical, and brims with sensitivity towards the pitfalls of human experience' - The Rumpus
'How does he do it? Matthew Baker's mind is an oyster producing pearl after pearl. Each story in Why Visit America offers an eerie and unsettling vision of our possible future while remaining emotionally truthful, and, as always, incredibly damn fun' - Kelly Luce, author of Pull Me Under
'Matthew Baker's Why Visit America is at once deeply heartbroken by the state of our country and world, and also deeply hopeful about what both could be. These stories critically examine the harms wrought by American xenophobia, misogyny, transphobia and capitalism while also bearing an abiding, profound love for this planet and for its people. This is a brilliant collection that shines with imagination, and with empathy' - Anna Valente, author of The Desert Sky Before Us
'With his unique brand of quirky, sardonic compassion, Matthew Baker offers us a book that's like a cross-country road trip as seen through a funhouse mirror. At once trenchant and deeply tender, the stories in Why Visit America thrum with all that is exasperating, absurd, tragic, and still so compelling about life in these United States' - Naomi J. Williams, author of Landfalls
'Matthew Baker's stories are wild in all the best ways but Why Visit America isn't just a triumph of weirdness - these stories use a variety of skewed lenses to offer smart critiques of the systems and beliefs humming through so much of American life. They also somehow manage to be, always, a ton of fun to read' - Lee Connell, author of Subcortical
By turns witty and profoundly thought-provoking, the stories that comprise Why Visit America provide timely and fascinating commentaries on the state of modern America and beyond.
Signed Edition
A standard edition is available here
Whatever the neighbours insisted would be worth keeping a body for, he always responded that he would still prefer to live as data. A young man breaks the news to his family that he is going to transition from an analogue body to a digital existence. A young woman abducts a child - her own - from a government-run childcare facility. The citizens of Plainfield, Texas, have had it with the United States. So they decide to secede, rename themselves America in memory of their former country, and set themselves up to receive tourists from their closest neighbour: America.
The stories in Matthew Baker's collection portray a world within touching distance of our own. This is an America riven by dilemmas confronting so many of us - from old age to consumerism, drugs to internet culture - turned on its head by one of the most darkly innovative and defiantly strange voices of the moment.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
ISBN: 9781526629463
Number of pages: 368
Dimensions: 234 x 153 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'Matthew Baker is the rarest of writers, one who can turn complex, high-concept stories into sublime character-driven psalms. His work is both highly original and refreshingly human' - Noah Hawley, creator of Fargo
'Baker's writing is taut yet lyrical, and brims with sensitivity towards the pitfalls of human experience' - The Rumpus
'How does he do it? Matthew Baker's mind is an oyster producing pearl after pearl. Each story in Why Visit America offers an eerie and unsettling vision of our possible future while remaining emotionally truthful, and, as always, incredibly damn fun' - Kelly Luce, author of Pull Me Under
'Matthew Baker's Why Visit America is at once deeply heartbroken by the state of our country and world, and also deeply hopeful about what both could be. These stories critically examine the harms wrought by American xenophobia, misogyny, transphobia and capitalism while also bearing an abiding, profound love for this planet and for its people. This is a brilliant collection that shines with imagination, and with empathy' - Anna Valente, author of The Desert Sky Before Us
'With his unique brand of quirky, sardonic compassion, Matthew Baker offers us a book that's like a cross-country road trip as seen through a funhouse mirror. At once trenchant and deeply tender, the stories in Why Visit America thrum with all that is exasperating, absurd, tragic, and still so compelling about life in these United States' - Naomi J. Williams, author of Landfalls
'Matthew Baker's stories are wild in all the best ways but Why Visit America isn't just a triumph of weirdness - these stories use a variety of skewed lenses to offer smart critiques of the systems and beliefs humming through so much of American life. They also somehow manage to be, always, a ton of fun to read' - Lee Connell, author of Subcortical