A Manual for How to Love Us: Stories

A Manual for How to Love Us is a debut collection of stories that explores the primal nature of women's grief, offering insight into the profound experience of loss and the absurd ways in which we seek control. The stories are set across overlooked towns in the American South and feature grieving women who embrace their wildest impulses as they attempt to master their lives. The book is lyrical and surprisingly humorous, revealing the sticky complications of living in a body.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 27 April 2023
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Inc

A captivating debut collection of interconnected stories delves into the raw essence of women's grief, offering profound insights into the profound experience of loss and the absurd ways in which we seek control in an unpredictable world.

Seamlessly transitioning between the speculative and the vividly real, the book strikes a delicate balance between the bizarre and the subtle brutality of everyday life. A Manual for How to Love Us paints a tender portrait of women navigating their way through the aftermath of loss, striving to survive, love, and find genuine meaning in the face of adversity.

In these unconventional and unpredictably connected stories, Erin Slaughter challenges the conventional portrayal of the soft-spoken, sorrowful woman in distress, embracing the unconventional and honoring the feral within us all. Each story unfolds as grieving women embrace their wildest impulses, attempting to master their lives in unique and captivating ways. One woman becomes a "gazer" at a fraternity house, another immerses herself in her otherworldly stained-glass art, a couple communicates solely through their secluded basement black box, and a thruple must navigate the complexities of life when one partner disappears.

The women in Erin Slaughter's stories endure messy breakups, share secrets with the ghosts entangled in their hair, consume raw meat to connect with their inner wolves, and engage in deadly MLM schemes along the Gulf Coast. Set across oft-overlooked towns in the American South, the book highlights women who are teetering on the edge, clinging to its precipitous edge.

A Manual for How to Love Us is a lyrical and surprisingly humorous exploration of the complexities of living in a body, embracing its grotesquerie and glory. It is an exciting debut that unveils the sticky intricacies of existence, leaving readers eagerly anticipating the next installment in this captivating series.

Weight: 259g
Dimension: 203 x 135 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780063230880