The Brutal Language of Love: Stories

Alicia Erian's characters are brave, disarming, affectionate, and deeply flawed. They inhabit the not-so-very-wide space between a good intention and a bad outcome. In Alcatraz, we meet a middle-school spelling champion who spends her afternoons taking baths with the boy next door. In Almonds and Cherries, a young woman turns an unexpectedly arousing bra-shopping experience into a short film, with ramifications for everyone around her. In On the Occasion of My Ruination, a college-bound student plots to lose her virginity to a pizza parlor waiter. The Brutal Language of Love challenges traditional notions of right and wrong with what has become Erian's signature -- an achingly stylish humor and a deep understanding of the brutal truth about human nature. These surprising, provocative, and deeply resonant stories marked the emergence of a major talent