Some Possible Solutions: Stories

In a spine-tingling new collection, the "unique"(NPR) and "wickedly funny" (New York Times) Helen Phillips offers an idiosyncratic series of "what-ifs" about our fragile human condition.

What if your perfect hermaphrodite match existed on another planet? What if you could suddenly see through people's skin to their organs? What if you knew the exact date of your death? What if your city was filled with doppelg ngers--of you?

Forced to navigate these bizarre scenarios, Helen Phillips's characters search for solutions to the problem of how to survive in an irrational, infinitely strange world. By turns surreal, witty, and perplexing, the stories here explore the everyday indignities and surprising pleasures of living in a time and place that can feel futuristic, fantastical, and familiar all at once. Some Possible Solutions cements Phillips's standing as a true original and a treasure.


About the Author
HELEN PHILLIPS is the award-winning author of the widely acclaimed novel The Beautiful Bureaucrat, named a New York Times Notable Book, and the collection And Yet They Were Happy. Her work has appeared in Tin House, Electric Literature, and The New York Times. An assistant professor of creative writing at Brooklyn College, she lives in Brooklyn with her husband and children.