Perverts
Stories
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- Pre-Order
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- Expected 7 Jul 2026
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- 105,00 kr
Publisher Description
A full-frontal confrontation of the ways we perform desire and shame—from the downright bizarre to the frighteningly relatable—by the award-winning author of A Sharp Endless Need
“Funny and bleak like a queer George Saunders, these stories weird up daily life . . . I love this book!”—Andrea Lawlor, author of Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl
An employee at a hunting ground where people pay to act out hate crimes prepares to meet their girlfriend’s parents for the first time. A self-destructive client engages in an affair with their therapist, careening their relationship toward its inevitable breaking point. At a theme park where men pay to ogle women dressed as sirens, a mild-mannered boat attendant gets engaged to the star performer. And in the title story, a pregnant internet sex worker blackmails her clients into attending a disastrous party.
Nothing is off limits for Mac Crane as they rework classic stories of rejection, isolation, and connection to suggest that the so-called pervert, by existing in the margins of society, may be the one who sees the world most clearly. Crane brings their keen eye for the unsavory to seventeen transgressive stories that are as tantalizing and addictive as the characters’ experiences. A provocative and uproarious collection about pleasure, performance, and pain, Perverts is an exaltation of the awesome depravity of queer modernity.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sexual identity, kink, and reinvention run through this bold story collection from Crane (A Sharp Endless Need). It opens with the warped and wonderful "Smear the Queer," a George Saunders–esque story set at a theme park catering to homophobes looking to live out their queer-bashing fantasies. The narrator, a cunning and athletic lesbian who lets herself get beat up by clients, divides her allegiances between her partner, to whom she lies about the cause of her injuries, and her coworkers, whom she often takes beatings for. A few entries don't quite develop beyond their high-concept conceits, as in "The Futurewives™," a satire of the tradwife and natalist movements in which objectified and subservient women begin to rebel. Thankfully, there's an abundance of stronger entries that are more satisfying in their exploration of the messiness and consuming nature of desire. The narrator of "Harmony" begins a heated sexual affair with their therapist while sleeping with their roommate on the side. Another highlight is "The Failed Messiah," about a bisexual sex worker who deals with her Catholic guilt and estrangement from her family while domming a client whose father had told him he would be the next messiah. Crane's memorable and provocative stories are well worth a look.
