The Atlantic

The Propulsive Power of <em>Catapult</em>

A new dynamic collection of short stories from Emily Fridlund revels in discomfort and disorientation.
Source: Sarabande Books

Tin Emily Fridlund’s slim collection, , make her title seem especially apt. They reveal the coiled, uncanny power that propelled her debut novel,, onto the Man Booker Prize shortlist this fall. The teenage loner at the center of that haunted coming-of-age tale (a babysitting arrangement swerves onto grim terrain) turns out to have offbeat kin in the uncozy houses that Fridlund has been visiting in her short fiction in recent years.

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from The Atlantic

The Atlantic4 min read
Private Equity Has Its Eyes on the Child-Care Industry
Updated at 1:30 p.m. ET on February 22, 2024. Last June, years of organizing in Vermont paid off when the state’s House and Senate passed landmark legislation—overriding a governor’s earlier veto—that invests $125 million a year into its child-care s
The Atlantic5 min readSocial History
The Pro-life Movement’s Not-So-Secret Plan for Trump
Sign up for The Decision, a newsletter featuring our 2024 election coverage. Donald Trump has made no secret of the fact that he regards his party’s position on reproductive rights as a political liability. He blamed the “abortion issue” for his part
The Atlantic4 min readAmerican Government
How Democrats Could Disqualify Trump If the Supreme Court Doesn’t
Near the end of the Supreme Court’s oral arguments about whether Colorado could exclude former President Donald Trump from its ballot as an insurrectionist, the attorney representing voters from the state offered a warning to the justices—one evoking

Related Books & Audiobooks