Ricky

by Whitney Collins

From Whitney Collins, the award-winning author of Big Bad, come twenty-three new dark and derelict (and hilarious) tales about—you guessed it—love.

With Ricky, Collins applies her sharp eye, black humor, and generous heart to love stories (and the stories we tell ourselves about love). Among the wacky, tacky, lovesick, and lovelorn characters are: Ilona, the misanthropic mother and unhappy fiancé who is increasingly transfixed by a rash of local shark attacks; Imogen, the sperm bank client who cultivates the love she madly desires inside herself; and Aurora Flood, the coma survivor on a mission to plant a sacred seed from the Olive Garden. Blending elements of southern gothic, speculative fiction, and horror, Ricky & Other Love Stories is political and personal, bitter and sweet: ultimately, a lot like love.

252 pages, Paperback

First published June 25, 2024

About the author

Whitney is the author of RICKY & OTHER LOVE STORIES (Sarabande, 2024) and BIG BAD (Sarabande, 2021), which won the 2019 Mary McCarthy Prize, a 2021 Bronze INDIES, and a 2022 Gold IPPY.

She is the recipient of a Best American Short Stories 2022 Distinguished Story, a 2020 Pushcart Prize, a 2020 Pushcart Prize Special Mention and winner the 2020 American Short(er) Fiction Prize and the 2021 ProForma Contest.

Her stories have appeared in American Short Fiction, AGNI, The Idaho Review, Gulf Coast, and The Best Small Fictions 2022, among others.

Reviews

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

the only greater pleasure than reading my idea of a perfect short story is a collection of two dozen perfect short stories by an author i’ve never heard of with a kickass cover to boot

[Seth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. What can I say? She seems to have her finger on the pulse of humanity. She writes men well. Children well. Always people on the edge of some big life disruption. And she does it with a lot of insight, a ton of style, and a certain specificity that really burns the stories into your brain. They each have a cadence that starts almost like a clever joke, then quickly grows in intensity. Finally, at the end, each piece seems to answers a question I didn't even know I'd been silently asking. And it gut punched me every time. Ms. Collins, please find a quiet place somewhere because I need more of your work immediately!

[Clover Gislason · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked a couple of the stories but majority of them were just chaos without being entertaining or funny. Rocks 4 Sale and Cray were great

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, biting! I had the same kind of feeling reading this collection as I did Roxane Gay’s DIFFICULT WOMEN.

[Beth Pride · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whitney's characters immediately pull the reader in, making us laugh and cringe with dialogue and details that are fresh and edgy and vintage all at once. She has single-handedly brought me back to the short-story genre with her classically gothic wit and punchy, provocative endings. I read one story at time and let it sit with me for a day. It's a treat like eating dark chocolate.

[James Callan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was great. Giving it a 4 because I prefer Collins' last collection, Big Bad. Still, there is lots to love in this one - critically speaking, Ricky is probably a better collection than Big Bad, it just didn't tickle my G-spot in the same way.

Funny, brutally honest, and stellar wirintg. Solid Witney Collins. Recommended.

[Anne Dean Dotson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I forget how much I love short stories. And how much talent it takes to write them well. I loved the first half of this collection. I laughed outloud. Maybe I should have read it more slowly instead of straight through. That might have helped me get through the second half more easily. Excellent writing.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 1/2 stars

[gabby o. · Rating 4 out of 5]

craziest things i have ever had to visualize