Entry Level
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Tales of characters trying to find their way through the struggles of underemployment.
Wendy Wimmer’s debut short story collection, Entry Level, contains a range of characters who are trying to find, assert, or salvage their identities. These fifteen stories center around the experience of being underemployed—whether by circumstance, class, gender, race, or other prevailing factors—and the toll this takes on an individual. Wimmer pushes the boundaries of reality, creating stories that are funny, fantastic, and at times terrifying. Her characters undergo feats of endurance, heartbreak, and loneliness, all while trying to succeed in a world that so often undervalues them. From a young marine biologist suffering from imposter syndrome and a haunting to a bingo caller facing another brutal snowstorm and a creature that may or not be an angel, Wimmer’s characters are all confronting an oppressive universe that seemingly operates against them or is, at best, indifferent to them. These stories reflect on the difficulties of modern-day survival and remind us that piecing together a life demands both hope and resilience.
Entry Level was selected by Deesha Philyaw as the winner of the 2021 Autumn House Fiction Prize.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Wimmer's innovative and darkly humorous debut collection employs emergency situations and fantastical elements as the protagonists struggle to make a living with low-paying jobs. "Passeridae" follows a group of crew members aboard a cruise ship as they take cover from terrorists in a laundry closet, where they reflect on the debauchery of their guests and reference the movie Titanic while joking about their low likelihood of survival. "INGOB" involves a search in Door County, Wis., for the missing county snowplow driver, nicknamed "Chief." Mabel, the narrator, wonders if Chief's disappearance is connected to a mysterious stranger who recently appeared at the rec center, where Mabel runs the bingo table. She describes the sound of his voice as "rustling leaves or maybe a rusted chain dropping to the floor," which caused her to fumble the cards, and Chief came to her aid by ordering the man to leave. In "Strange Magic," the employees of a skating rink discover that if they skate counterclockwise around the rink, they will reverse their aging. When Mary Ellen, who had a mastectomy, discovers her breast has regrown, the narrator's understated reaction perfectly sums up the mood of Wimmer's characters: "We had confirmation that something weird was happening." Throughout, Wimmer makes the most of strange situations.
