“Reading this story collection is like stepping in front of a fun house mirror. At first, you see yourself, your world, and the characters as ordinary. But with one side step, your body slowly distorts into something unexpected, wicked, even silly. But vibrating underneath, somehow, Julianna Baggott’s words ground us with the familiar truths that allow us to see the ordinary as something truly extraordinary.” —Jessica Biel, actress and producer
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- I’d Really Prefer Not to Be Here with You, and Other Stories
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Read by Andi Arndt, Erin Bennett, Emily Lawrence, Tavia Gilbert, Kimberly M. Wetherell, January LaVoy, Em Grosland, Natasha Soudek, Lisa Flanagan, Sarah Beth Pfeifer, Rachel Jacobs, Kelli Tager, Xe Sands, Emily Woo Zeller, and Cassandra Campbell
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Release Date: 3/28/23
Formats: Hardcover, Large Print Hardcover, Trade Print ARC, Trade Paperback, Signed Hardcover
Bestselling author Julianna Baggott delivers her mind-bending debut short-story collection, featuring an array of genres populated by deeply human characters, and with film rights to the stories already having been sold to Netflix, Paramount, Amblin, Lionsgate, and others!
In the title story, set five minutes in the future where you not only have a credit score but also a dating score, a woman who’s been banished from all dating apps attends a weekly help group with others who have been “banned for life,” and finds herself falling in love. In “Backwards,” a twist on Benjamin Button, a woman reconnects with her estranged father as he de-ages ten years each day they spend together. In “Welcome to Oxhead,” all the parents in a gated community “shut off” when the power goes out. In “Portals,” a small town deals with hope and loss when dozens of portals suddenly open. In “How They Got In,” a grieving family starts to see a murdered girl in all of their old home videos.
This fantastical collection from a unique voice contains a myriad of stories of the weird and wonderful. Julianna Baggott is a talented and clever guide, and I’d Really Prefer Not to Be Here with You will take the reader on a journey unlike anything they’ve experienced.
- I’d Really Prefer Not to Be Here with You, and Other Stories
-
Read by Andi Arndt, Erin Bennett, Emily Lawrence, Tavia Gilbert, Kimberly M. Wetherell, January LaVoy, Em Grosland, Natasha Soudek, Lisa Flanagan, Sarah Beth Pfeifer, Rachel Jacobs, Kelli Tager, Xe Sands, Emily Woo Zeller, and Cassandra Campbell
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Release Date: 3/28/23
Formats: Hardcover, Large Print Hardcover, Trade Print ARC, Trade Paperback, Signed Hardcover
