Out There

Stories

De: Kate Folk

Narrado por: Sophie Amoss, Hannah Choi, Michael Crouch, Will Damron, Renata Friedman, Kristen Sieh

A thrilling new voice in fiction injects the absurd into the everyday to present a startling vision of modern life, “[as] if Kafka and Camus and Bradbury were penning episodes of Black Mirror” (Chang-Rae Lee, author of My Year Abroad).

“Stories so sharp and ingenious you may cut yourself on them while reading.”—Kelly Link, author of Get In Trouble

FINALIST FOR THE CALIFORNIA BOOK AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Chicago Review of Books, Kirkus Reviews

With a focus on the weird and eerie forces that lurk beneath the surface of ordinary experience, Kate Folk’s debut collection is perfectly pitched to the madness of our current moment. A medical ward for a mysterious bone-melting disorder is the setting of a perilous love triangle. A curtain of void obliterates the globe at a steady pace, forcing Earth’s remaining inhabitants to decide with whom they want to spend eternity. A man fleeing personal scandal enters a codependent relationship with a house that requires a particularly demanding level of care. And in the title story, originally published in The New Yorker, a woman in San Francisco uses dating apps to find a partner despite the threat posed by “blots,” preternaturally handsome artificial men dispatched by Russian hackers to steal data. Meanwhile, in a poignant companion piece, a woman and a blot forge a genuine, albeit doomed, connection.

Prescient and wildly imaginative, Out There depicts an uncanny landscape that holds a mirror to our subconscious fears and desires. Each story beats with its own fierce heart, and together they herald an exciting new arrival in the tradition of speculative literary fiction.

Delightfuly strange

I love a good weird story and this is a whole bunch of those. just sci-fi story after story of weird things and man did I enjoy it. give it a read if you're looking for something different

Wonderfully Strange

I absolutely loved each of the stories in this book! They are bizarre and wonderful.

Unique and fresh.

There were a few in here that I admit didn’t work for me, though the rest were so good that it has me questioning my first listen. There are some great ideas very well executed by a talented writer here. Looking forward to more.

Just fantastic

A wonderful time throughout. Shorter stories that aren't full arcs are still worthwhile stories with intriguing ideas and fleshed out worlds that leave you thinking about their worlds.

This was an entertaining book

Some stories better then the other, and some were really hard to get into or were predictable, overall: liked this book and am gonna listen to it again

This book held my attention better then anything I’ve attempted recently

I just loved almost every story. Some I just liked. No duds as far as I’m concerned.

I read the book and then listened here again!

I bought the book about two years ago and was drawn to its collection of these strange yet extraordinary stories, which really took me out of the box or even my comfort zone. Not the ordinary stories, that’s why it’s so exciting to listen to them.

Tragically beautiful and honest

And funny! Each story made me think more as I did as a child, fewer rules. The stories are so fantastical yet so absolutely human and relatable. Listening just made me relax into my own strangeness a bit more. The last story was my absolute favorite.

this really weaseled it’s way into my brain

4.5/5

Gonna be thinking about this one for a while. Murakami meets Black Mirror magical realism, set in contemporary every day life. Then one of the stories goes ahead and references Murakami, and I felt both called out and understood lol. Kinda mundane in a relatable way, kinda disturbing in a fantastical way. I don't know how else to describe this collection of stories, but I want to own this book and I'm eager to consume future work that Kate Folk puts out.

My favorite book of the year so far

I don't often read short story collections, but boy am I glad I read this one! For fans of Poe, the Twilight Zone and David Cronenberg, this fantastically creative, shocking, hilarious and touching collection is for you. I can't wait for her next book!