Radical Empathy

by Robin Romm

In this new collection of short stories that Ben Fountain declares “all marvels,” Robin Romm (author of The Mercy Papers) revels in the mess behind the slick veneer of modern life. A financially-strapped college student sells her sought after “Ivy League eggs” to a movie star, then wrestles with her feelings as the child grows up in the public eye. A long-married wife in the midst of a bungled kitchen remodel imagines the excitement of her neighbor’s unstable erotic life. Isolated by quarantine, a young widow contends with a talking daffodil that panders to her in therapy-speak. Disquieting, original and strangely reassuring, these ten new stories make quick work of the easy truths and thoughtless salvos that keep us from seeing the wildness of our irreducible lives.

Genres: Fiction

189 pages, Paperback

Published September 15, 2024

About the author

Robin Romm is the author of two books, The Mother Garden (stories) and The Mercy Papers (a memoir). The Mercy Papers received the cover review of the New York Times Book Review ("a furious blaze of a book") in January 2009. The Mother Garden was a finalist for the PEN USA prize and the Northern California Independent Bookseller Book of the Year Award. She teaches in the MFA program at New Mexico State.

Reviews

[Marcy Dermansky · Rating 5 out of 5]

The stories in this book are SO good, so rich and fully developed. Robin Romm creates entire worlds, fully realized characters in such short spaces. She also continuously surprises me. Sentences that fill me with awe.

And plots! A mother who comes back as a ghost with a pointed mission, a gunman at an AWP writers conference.

I'm still reading but I feel compelled to post this review now. It's been a long time since I have fallen this hard for a short story collection.

[Rex Horner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hard to pick a favorite from this collection but “Marital Problems” is a contender (the O’Henry committee was right) and the title story “Radical Empathy” (Robin knew it was worth naming the book after it) is probably the winner. “A Gun in the First Act” is an absurdist sendup of academia that stands out and “Soothsaying” is my personal favorite from the proverbial B sides.

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

every story in this book. so good