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About, Above, Around: 50 Prepositions
Winner of the George Garrett Fiction Prize, selected by Kaveh Akbar
"We ought to say a feeling of and, a feeling of if, a feeling of but, and a feeling of by," William James writes. In About, Above, Around, fifty prepositions reveal the subtle syntax of our inner lives, offering a new yet ancient vocabulary for charting how feeling moves within and between and around us. Kaveh Akbar, selecting the collection for the George Garrett Prize, "About, Above, Around is thrillingly ambitious and deliciously readable, a remarkable vortex of place and mind and spirit illuminating how our lives are shaped, and how we're held within them. Mayer has given us one of the most dexterous, impressive books I've read in ages."
"We ought to say a feeling of and, a feeling of if, a feeling of but, and a feeling of by," William James writes. In About, Above, Around, fifty prepositions reveal the subtle syntax of our inner lives, offering a new yet ancient vocabulary for charting how feeling moves within and between and around us. Kaveh Akbar, selecting the collection for the George Garrett Prize, "About, Above, Around is thrillingly ambitious and deliciously readable, a remarkable vortex of place and mind and spirit illuminating how our lives are shaped, and how we're held within them. Mayer has given us one of the most dexterous, impressive books I've read in ages."
212 pages, Paperback
Published February 25, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 2, 2026
I am definitely biased, because this book was written by a Skidmore Prof, but I had a lot of fun reading this. Prof. Mayer does really great work in building complex worlds in very little words and also out of very little words--words like "via," for instance, are three letters long and yet contain much meaning. Yay!
October 3, 2026
Mark Mayer
ABOUT, ABOVE, AROUND
Mark Mayer teaches English at Skidmore and has written a book of stories centered around prepositions. He claims they are the parts of speech closest to feelings, that we know close and far, for example, before we know language. That gives you an idea of his nimble mind. He says prepositions are our most ancient and unchanged English words. I thought prepositions are farthest from feelings. Little did I know.
Each of his almost-60 very short stories––most cover only a page or two–– gives us a character or set of characters in a situation we readers probably have never thought of. The first story, "Aboard," shows us a high school physics teacher, Mr. Memelowski, who likes to prove to his students, who are more affluent than he is, that the vector sum of their fancy vacations is zero. Determined to have a non-zero trip of his own, he buys a one-way ticket around the word, only to be taught by a smart woman that that circular vector can also add up to zero.
Full of humor and ideas, the stories tickle the reader's sense of humor while also engaging her intellect. Mayer has a straightforward writing style, and if the reader looks (as I do) for sentences that embody Strunk and White's exhortations to "Use no excess words!" and "Never use a long word when a short word will do!" she will find a multitude. It is a fun book to dip into, and even the shortest of the stories lands with a satisfying thump.
I met characters unlike any I've met before and followed each on an idiosyncratic journey, whether to a ruined gingerbread model of the First Temple or to a mother's lost teeth or to a woman weeping for her father who isn't even dead. None of Mayer's characters does the expected thing, yet we instinctively believe whatever odd thing they do do because this author has infused them with believable feeling. His stories have a momentum that makes us eager to reach each conclusion.
About, Above, Around is an intricate mosaic, each individual story finding its place in a larger whole, like a Chuck Close giant portrait composed of a gazillion smaller ones, each finely wrought and having its own integrity. The book won the George Garrett Fiction Prize. Mark Mayer is at work on a novel. I can't wait to read it.
Nancy Tilly
ABOUT, ABOVE, AROUND
Mark Mayer teaches English at Skidmore and has written a book of stories centered around prepositions. He claims they are the parts of speech closest to feelings, that we know close and far, for example, before we know language. That gives you an idea of his nimble mind. He says prepositions are our most ancient and unchanged English words. I thought prepositions are farthest from feelings. Little did I know.
Each of his almost-60 very short stories––most cover only a page or two–– gives us a character or set of characters in a situation we readers probably have never thought of. The first story, "Aboard," shows us a high school physics teacher, Mr. Memelowski, who likes to prove to his students, who are more affluent than he is, that the vector sum of their fancy vacations is zero. Determined to have a non-zero trip of his own, he buys a one-way ticket around the word, only to be taught by a smart woman that that circular vector can also add up to zero.
Full of humor and ideas, the stories tickle the reader's sense of humor while also engaging her intellect. Mayer has a straightforward writing style, and if the reader looks (as I do) for sentences that embody Strunk and White's exhortations to "Use no excess words!" and "Never use a long word when a short word will do!" she will find a multitude. It is a fun book to dip into, and even the shortest of the stories lands with a satisfying thump.
I met characters unlike any I've met before and followed each on an idiosyncratic journey, whether to a ruined gingerbread model of the First Temple or to a mother's lost teeth or to a woman weeping for her father who isn't even dead. None of Mayer's characters does the expected thing, yet we instinctively believe whatever odd thing they do do because this author has infused them with believable feeling. His stories have a momentum that makes us eager to reach each conclusion.
About, Above, Around is an intricate mosaic, each individual story finding its place in a larger whole, like a Chuck Close giant portrait composed of a gazillion smaller ones, each finely wrought and having its own integrity. The book won the George Garrett Fiction Prize. Mark Mayer is at work on a novel. I can't wait to read it.
Nancy Tilly
April 4, 2026
I’m very biased in this books favor given that the author is my cousin.
I’m happy to say I have never read anything quite like About Above Around. I really liked the variety of perspectives taken on across the stories. Death, beings of higher dimensions, Neptune, and the god of Neptune’s upper respiratory all get their due. It’s odd and sometimes hard to parse but very unique and enjoyable. There are some characters and elements reminiscent of Mayer’s previous book Aerialists. But I found the authors voice and imagination to be the familiar through line across both books rather than any particular subject matter (though it is present too.) The art is also excellent and adds an additional interesting layer of matter to interpret and parse.
Reading About Above AroundI found myself laughing at times and moved at other moments. Some other times I frowned in concentration as I tried to understand what was going on and how the narrative related to its particular preposition. But being moved and challenged by writing is why I bother reading at all. I’m excited to return to About Above Around soon to try and understand some of the stories that went over my head this time. What I do understand and appreciate after a first read is the imagination and creativity that shines through all 50 stories in this book. It really is unique.
I’m happy to say I have never read anything quite like About Above Around. I really liked the variety of perspectives taken on across the stories. Death, beings of higher dimensions, Neptune, and the god of Neptune’s upper respiratory all get their due. It’s odd and sometimes hard to parse but very unique and enjoyable. There are some characters and elements reminiscent of Mayer’s previous book Aerialists. But I found the authors voice and imagination to be the familiar through line across both books rather than any particular subject matter (though it is present too.) The art is also excellent and adds an additional interesting layer of matter to interpret and parse.
Reading About Above AroundI found myself laughing at times and moved at other moments. Some other times I frowned in concentration as I tried to understand what was going on and how the narrative related to its particular preposition. But being moved and challenged by writing is why I bother reading at all. I’m excited to return to About Above Around soon to try and understand some of the stories that went over my head this time. What I do understand and appreciate after a first read is the imagination and creativity that shines through all 50 stories in this book. It really is unique.
March 9, 2026
A very creative unique book artfully designed. The value,importance and multiple meanings of prepositions is cleverly conveyed in these short vignettes. Mayer’s range of creative writing comes through as one reads the varied stories. It is not a book to sit down and read through but one for slow reading and to savor .
August 17, 2026
I'm the problem. It's me. I adore words. I appreciate how much every word holds. And, yet, with some of the individual stories...I just couldn't get there. I tried to imagine my mind expanding and turning and twisting to get there ...wherever there is...and I fell short. Nonetheless, I was impressed with the creativity and heart and soul with which this book was written.
Read
March 9, 2026“I don’t believe in God,” a son tells his mother.
After a pause. “Sounds smart.”
After a pause. “Sounds smart.”
July 28, 2026
This is one of my favorite story collections I've ever read.
July 21, 2026
3.5/5
Things I love:
- the premise
- the creativity and sheer weirdness
- I was astonished by the concise world-building
- I’ve had my own idea for a book of short stories with an underlying thread, and this work inspired me to keep thinking about it
- the art
Things I love a little less:
- Most of these stories are truly emotional. But some force the emotion by appealing to our most abstract thoughts in a way I didn’t always follow. Making everything seem deep and introspective takes the meaning out of the things that do resonate
- stories about current events
Things I love:
- the premise
- the creativity and sheer weirdness
- I was astonished by the concise world-building
- I’ve had my own idea for a book of short stories with an underlying thread, and this work inspired me to keep thinking about it
- the art
Things I love a little less:
- Most of these stories are truly emotional. But some force the emotion by appealing to our most abstract thoughts in a way I didn’t always follow. Making everything seem deep and introspective takes the meaning out of the things that do resonate
- stories about current events
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews