Sex of the Midwest: A Novel in Stories

by Robyn Ryle

Comparisons to OLIVE KITTERIDGE are inevitable, but the tone and expansiveness of this novel-in-stories hark back to Spoon River Anthology (if not Chaucer). Thoroughly an astute portrait of contemporary small-town America that's genuinely fun to read.- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"I've not been this undone and awed by a short story collection since THE SECRET LIVES OF CHURCH LADIES by Deesha Philyaw. Robyn Ryle proves that narrative fearlessness, ambition and radical play reach their highest resonance when foundationed on an ungodly talent and stunning skill. It's impossible to say what's more soul-snatching the premises or the writing. It's hard to deliver on what feels like an impossible book to imagine. It's harder to make the writing of that impossible book seem easy, or even inevitable. Robyn Ryle does both. The short story and literary sex are somewhere sweating and smiling, so thankful that they are alive, and in union, again."-Kiese Laymon, author of HEAVY, AN AMERICAN MEMOIR

"Ah, the Midwest, home of flatness and reticence. Like the people of Winesburg, Ohio, the residents of Lanier, Indiana, harbor their hopes and fears privately, afraid no one else will understand. Robyn Ryle knows her small town inside and out, celebrating the strange and mundane equally. SEX OF THE MIDWEST isn’t about sex so much as love and loneliness, and, ultimately, belonging.’"- Stewart O’Nan, author of EMILY, ALONE

"Set during post-Covid societal reentry, SEX OF THE MIDWEST is proof of the multitudes people quirks, fetishes, gripes, and great depth. With humor and moments of grace, Robyn Ryle depicts young love, new old love, the passage of time, and our remarkable human ability to learn and change. I don’t know if Lanier, Indiana is a real place or not, but these delightful linked stories sure makes it feel real."- Daphne Kalotay, author of Grace Paley prize-winning THE ARCHIVISTS

One foggy morning, an email appears in inboxes across the small town of Lanier, Indiana. “Invitation to Sexual Practices in a Small Midwestern Town,” the subject line reads. A link leads to an extensive survey. Street by street and resident by resident–from the basketball coach in retirement with a bad lung, to the bartender finding her way to writing, to the health department worker with a vendetta against the hot-dog vendor–the email opens up the secret (and not so secret) lives of one community, and reveals the surprising complexity of love, friendship, and belonging in our post-Covid times.

Genres: Fiction, Short Stories, Contemporary

220 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 14, 2025

About the author

Robyn Ryle is a writer who also teaches sociology and gender studies at a small liberal arts college in Indiana. Her young adult novel, FAIR GAME, about a girls' basketball team that challenges the boys to a high stakes game, putting their season, their futures and three cherished friendships on the line, is available for pre-order now.

She's also the author of three nonfiction books. THROW LIKE A GIRL, CHEER LIKE A BOY: THE EVOLUTION OF GENDER, IDENTITY, AND RACE IN SPORTS will be available in paperback in August 2023. SHE/HE/THEY/ME: AN INTERACTIVE GUIDE TO THE GENDER BINARY is a 2020 ALA Stonewall Book Award Honoree. She's also written a sociology of gender textbook, QUESTIONING GENDER: A SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLORATION, available in its 5th edition in October 2023.

She has essays and stories at Newsweek, Gawker, CALYX Journal, Tin House and Belt Magazine, among others. You can find her on Twitter, @RobynRyle and IG, @robynrryle.

Reviews

[Kate Connell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another addition to the recurring theme of my recent reads being, you never know how you are perceived and should give yourself the grace you give to others. When the residents of Lanier get a survey for a study focused on sexual life and practices in a small midwestern town, no one knows what to make of it. Some are curious, others affronted, but everyone is captivated. While the survey is the impetus for the story, the collection dives much deeper into each character and leaves you with a solid view of this town, a clearer view than any of its inhabitants will ever get. This book includes a food inspector who spends a lot of time and energy focused on shutting down a new hot dog vendor at the farmers market, a woman feeling lost who applies to a writing fellowship just to be able to stay in the Virgina Woolf room, and a 'new' doctor in town who unfortunately shares a name-but no relation- to the old doctor. I was thoroughly entertained and wish I could pop down to the Saloon and have a drink with some of these characters.

I recommend this to people who enjoy short story collections, small town gossip, figuring yourself out (or failing to), and frank discussions of taboo topics.

Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this book.

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! It was quirky and different with a subtle sense of humor.

[Jess Mcalister · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. Part of the fun for me is that I live in the town Lanier is based on, so I couldn’t help but laugh at all the little Easter eggs sprinkled throughout. But even if you don’t have that connection, you’ll love it.
It’s told as a collection of short stories, but everyone is connected just like in a real small town. If you like books that let you peek into other people’s lives, you’ll love this one.
I found myself in every character in some way and it’s nice in a post-Covid world to remember that we really are all connected.
Thanks to NetGalley and Galiot Press for an eARC of this book!

[Allie · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I finished this, my exact words: “oh my god, that was beautiful. That was the best book I’ve read all year.”

[Kkraemer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everyone in town was invited to respond to an e-mail survey on their own sexual practices, and, in an odd way, it brought people together. Some were anxious that anyone (who?) would even ask about such things; others wondered what everyone's answers would be. Many refused to even look at the survey, while one person responded 12 times. Everyone, though, had a concern: would someone "innocent" stumble into this morass of questionable morals? would it single someone out? would someone learn about others' responses?

and, through this all, a series of wonderful pictures emerges, pictures of folks' inner thoughts and feelings, their questions and their bewilderment. This is a small town, and everyone seems, mostly, to leave everyone else to their own devices. Questions like these, though..

and woven through these pictures of the inner lives of people are hints about how to see the world, how to write, how to allow the passage of time to be a gift of deeper and deeper understanding.

What begins as a fairly trivial book turns out to be deep, satisfying, and certainly much more than a sex survey.

[Will · Rating 5 out of 5]

A perfect book where nothing happens and everything happens.

Found it because I love surveys, and the book's central thread is a small, Midwest town receiving a rather direct and pointed survey about their sexual habits. It's loosely based on a true story.

And yet, it's not. It's Real Life, as it can only be described. Messy, quaint, hungry, beautiful, full of yearning and regret and what might've been. This book is alive, in the best sense of the word. There is largely no plot but the characters' own lives.

[Charles Fried · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this, though it is not the kind of thing I usually read. it has a bit of Prairie Home Companion vibe, but in a good way. The author is clearly very observant of people and likes them (I am more in love with cats) and gives the folks in these stories sympathetic treatment.

[Kaitlyn Wright · Rating 2 out of 5]

it had some really beautiful parts! but generally didn’t really feel like the author totally knows her voice yet. or if she does know it, it gets lost at times. it felt like there was soooo much depth to explore in sexuality here, but the book was shallow and didn’t scratch the surface of sex.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. Robyn captures Indiana in the best way, and I was all in for the journey.

[Staceyalgren · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is a bit of a misnomer. The book was not really about sex at all, but more about a collection of people in a small town in Indiana. The townspeople receive a survey on sex but no one knows where it came from and it's poorly explained.... The book focuses on the peoples lives and interactions.

[Samantha Arnold · Rating 5 out of 5]

This amazing novel of stories is raw, real and veiled in beautiful vulnerability. The characters and their experiences feel so relatable and loosely connected much like real life itself. At its heart, this novel is about knowing you are loved, especially for those of us still learning to believe it.

[Bea Croteau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small town gossip where everyone’s gossiping about themselves to you. (They’ve got a few things to say about their neighbors too.)

Enjoyable cast of characters that were satisfyingly interconnected.

First book I’ve read that actually discusses the pandemic, as this book is fundamentally a post-Covid story. Neat stuff.

[Shana · Rating 3 out of 5]

***Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest review***

Despite the title and the blurbs about this book, this isn't about the sexual practices of folks in a small Midwestern town. Yes, the book kicks off with the mysterious appearance of a survey sent to residents of said town, but apart from some questioning of where it came from, it plays a very small role. This novel read like a less corny, slightly modernized version of Fannie Flagg novels (excluding her most recent, which I also reviewed). It's small town cutesy and quaint with a layer of post-pandemic fog and the "scandalous" parts have to do with older people dating and the existence of a gay college-aged step-daughter. All in all, this was an easy read but not a particularly memorable one.

[Elijah Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love, love, LOVE this book. First of all, the concept of a novel told through interconnected short stories is one that this anthology-loving book nerd is quite enamored with. Second, Lanier feels exceptionally familiar to me. Robyn Ryle did a wonderful job of portraying a small town in the Modern Midwest. Sometimes it felt like I had actually walked on the streets of Lanier as if they were my own hometown. Finally, no matter where you’re from or how big it is you will find the spirit of community in this book familiar. Big or small, landlocked or coastal, everyone experiences community in their cities and neighborhoods and Robyn 100% captures what that’s like.

[Stephanie Hellmann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some quirky characters, some messy ones, and lots of heart are what you'll find in the small Indiana town of Lanier. This short story cycle takes us into the lives of aspiring board members, young people who love this place but don't necessarily want to live here, and the dear friends who make the place work, with an anonymous sex survey tying them all together. Very often funny, and sometimes thought provoking, you won't be disappointed with your visit to the Midwest.

[NancyG · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25 This is a cozy, fast read about the folks in a small Indiana town reminiscent of Fannie Flagg’s books but, IMO, not as nearly as memorable. Despite the title, there is little focus on the mysterious sexual practice survey all of the residents received but rather glimpses into some of the quirky characters and relationships in small town Lanier.

[Jill Lucht · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can’t say enough good things about this book. I hope it becomes a sleeper hit like The Correspondent. It deserves so much love. This is a fun one about small town America, or more specifically small town Midwest, a place that I hold dear. It’s light and fun but also a deeply meaningful exploration of place in the Midwest.

[Celia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay just because I gave this 3 stars doesn’t mean I didn’t like it!! This was short and cozy, but nothing super exciting or interesting happened. My first short-story novel and I really liked how it jumped to different characters and how they were all connected in the end.

[Emily Gross · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the stories and characters in this book, but I am unsure if it will resonate with as deeply with people who don’t identify with the Midwest. I appreciate how Ryle elucidates complex emotions subtly through the stories rather than hitting you over the head with them.

[Stephanie Godward · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book articulates the magic of a small town…you will laugh, you will cry, you will discover the vastness of what you assume to be a small little town!

[Donna Bridwell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely delightful!! Witty, wry, enjoyable, and also filled with a lot of truths about people and about life.

[Chloe Eaton · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Marlena Oechsner · Rating 5 out of 5]

More of this. What a fantastic escape.

[Mary Anne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fine book with great character development. Loved that so much of the plot was powered as much by the characters thoughts as by their actions and conversations.

[Sheila Storrer Mercer]

Calm down! This is not what you think - it's a lovely collection of interconnected short stories.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of the book is misleading. It should be called strange tales from a rural midwestern town. Short tales of people who all receive the same sex survey and how they are coping post pandemic.

[Dana Mitra · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an unexpected delight of a book. The author has a style similar to Elizabeth Strout (Olive Kitteridge and other great books). The book is about a small town in Indiana and the cast of quirky characters in it. The title is a bit off--it refers to the shock and awe that the town was asked to participate in a survey about the sexual habits of midwesterners. But that topic is always background to the 'what is the meaning of life' questions asked by the characters in the novel. It is set just after the pandemic, which offers some interesting questions about how to interact with loved ones through and after this--including one who was in the hospital for months and almost died and then miraculously recovered.

[Cathy Ryan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too dumb and too disjointed