Long Distance

Longlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award, Fiction

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORKER, VULTURE, AND ELECTRIC LITERATURE

From the acclaimed author of one of Barack Obama's favorite books of 2024 The Anthropologists, comes a masterful collection of stories about distance and closeness in the age of connectivity.

"An exceptionally elegant, intelligent, and original writer." --Sigrid Nunez
"She is an author who simply, and astoundingly, knows." --Bryan Washington
"The rigor of Didion and the tenderness of Sebald." --Catherine Lacey
"One of my favorite writers." --Katie Kitamura

A researcher abroad in Rome eagerly awaits a visit from her long-distance lover, only to find he is not the same man she remembers. An expat meets a childhood friend on a layover and is dismayed by her unexpected contentment. A newly pregnant woman considers the American taboo of sharing the news too soon, but can't resist when an opportunity comes to patch up a damaged friendship.

Long Distance showcases Savas's devastating talent for the short story. Her shrewd encapsulations of contemporary life often center on characters displaced more by choice than circumstance, characters both determined to install themselves in new lives and preoccupied with the people they've left behind.