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Stories, Like Illnesses
Not yet published
Expected 20 Oct 26Elkins "offers a profusion of visual and philosophical imagination... A deeply unconventional debut, it's an invitation into a teeming imagination."
—John Williams, Washington Post
“The language, the pacing, the shifting moods, the academic stuff– all are in the right proportions. This is a MAJOR novel.” —Steven Moore, author of The Novel, An Alternative History
Mushrooms and comets, amoebas and crystals, an idyllic but uncanny day in the Samuel Emmer is losing grasp of his memories, and relying on a microscope to search for his future.
Biologist Samuel Emmer’s imagination is spinning out of control. As he confronts an increasingly mystifying and unreliable past, he is also losing sight of his future. Brilliant but lost, Emmer desperately tries to engage with those he cares the memory of his grief-stricken mother, obsessed with mycology and cosmology; a potential romance with co-worker Rosie, dependent on healing crystals to feel safe; and the fraying relationship with his older brother, disappearing into the ether of his own success. Strange imagery (mushrooms, crystals, microscopes, technical diagrams, comets, amoebas and idyllic skies) disrupts and diverts the text as the narrative itself fractures into competing voices. In the midst of it all is Samuel Emmer, at risk of vanishing himself.
The third volume in James Elkins’ landmark multi-volume novel Five Strange Languages, Stories, Like Illnesses is set in time both before and after the events of previously published volumes (Weak in Comparison to Dreams and A Short Introduction to Anneliese), the ideal entry point to Elkins’ sprawling modern day epic.
Heartbreaking, hilarious and deeply resonant.
“I don’t where it came from, I don’t know how it happened, but I got it in Toronto... I think everyone should read that book. It’s unbelievable” —JACOB ELORDI, on Weak in Comparison to Dreams
“The language, the pacing, the shifting moods, the academic stuff– all are in the right proportions. This is a MAJOR novel.” —Steven Moore, author of The Novel, An Alternative History
Mushrooms and comets, amoebas and crystals, an idyllic but uncanny day in the Samuel Emmer is losing grasp of his memories, and relying on a microscope to search for his future.
Biologist Samuel Emmer’s imagination is spinning out of control. As he confronts an increasingly mystifying and unreliable past, he is also losing sight of his future. Brilliant but lost, Emmer desperately tries to engage with those he cares the memory of his grief-stricken mother, obsessed with mycology and cosmology; a potential romance with co-worker Rosie, dependent on healing crystals to feel safe; and the fraying relationship with his older brother, disappearing into the ether of his own success. Strange imagery (mushrooms, crystals, microscopes, technical diagrams, comets, amoebas and idyllic skies) disrupts and diverts the text as the narrative itself fractures into competing voices. In the midst of it all is Samuel Emmer, at risk of vanishing himself.
The third volume in James Elkins’ landmark multi-volume novel Five Strange Languages, Stories, Like Illnesses is set in time both before and after the events of previously published volumes (Weak in Comparison to Dreams and A Short Introduction to Anneliese), the ideal entry point to Elkins’ sprawling modern day epic.
Heartbreaking, hilarious and deeply resonant.
“I don’t where it came from, I don’t know how it happened, but I got it in Toronto... I think everyone should read that book. It’s unbelievable” —JACOB ELORDI, on Weak in Comparison to Dreams
510 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication October 20, 2026
About the author
James Elkins
107 books265 followersJames Elkins (1955 – present) is an art historian and art critic. He is E.C. Chadbourne Chair of art history, theory, and criticism at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. He also coordinates the Stone Summer Theory Institute, a short term school on contemporary art history based at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.
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Review of advance copy
Where does one start in attempting to review James Elkins’ latest novel, Stories, Like Illnesses?
It’s brilliant and strange, both funny and tender. At times completely unhinged, while at others, unexpectedly moving. Mostly, though, it’s compulsively addictive from beginning to end.
Elkins’ Five Strange Language returns with its third book (and first sequentially) in what is turning out to be, a seriously magnum opus. Again, we are back with Samuel Emmer, who, if you’ve read both Weak in Comparison to Dreams or A Short Introduction to Anneliese, is having one hell of a year. This time around, we explore Samuel’s memories and his attempt to balance the relationships in his life.
While the timeframe and overall structure of this novel match the first two, I think readers will be pleasantly surprised with just how different Stories, Like Illnesses feels. This is novel, yes – but it’s also a compendium of ideas of memories, voices and texts. Open its pages and you will discover an entire world awaiting you: earwigs and crystals, mushrooms and jet engines. And the design? It’s simply gorgeous, where the text and images flooding the page in magnificent pairing.
At the core of this novel, however, is the exploration of memories and stories. We take a deep dive into Samuel’s childhood and his relationship with his mother. We also witness the origins of his relationship with his parasite-obsessed intern Viperine, and Rosie, a crystal-loving colleague. As Samuel tries to find stories to bring comfort and clarity, we see these threads slowly begin to converge, and that’s when this novel reaches some truly mind-blowing moments – no spoilers!
As Samuel moves through the book, there is this slowly accumulating sense of suffocation, anxiety, and existential dread that I found almost physically affecting at times. I found myself not merely reading about Samuel, but feeling, instead, like I was Samuel. Elkins’ ability to cast such feelings onto the reader is truly remarkable. This is a book about so many things, but after it was all over, what sat with me most is how this book made me physically feel.
For those who have already read the first two books of Five Strange Language, you’re in for a treat. This, to me, is the most daring and experimental of the three. It’s also may be the funniest and most tender. That could be recency bias – but I’ll find out soon enough. Reading Stories, Like Illnesses has made me want to revisit the other two books, as each entry fills out characters and events in new and exciting ways.
For those who haven’t read any of these books yet, now’s the time. There’s simply nothing else out there like them.
Stories, Like Illnesses can be hilarious, grotesque, anxious, tender, absurd, and devastating, sometimes within the space of a few pages. It is crowded with voices and memories and strange little details, but somehow, the emotional experience never feels scattered.
Instead, everything keeps building.
And building.
And building.
Until…
A truly incredible piece of work. Hands down, my favorite of 2026.
It’s brilliant and strange, both funny and tender. At times completely unhinged, while at others, unexpectedly moving. Mostly, though, it’s compulsively addictive from beginning to end.
Elkins’ Five Strange Language returns with its third book (and first sequentially) in what is turning out to be, a seriously magnum opus. Again, we are back with Samuel Emmer, who, if you’ve read both Weak in Comparison to Dreams or A Short Introduction to Anneliese, is having one hell of a year. This time around, we explore Samuel’s memories and his attempt to balance the relationships in his life.
While the timeframe and overall structure of this novel match the first two, I think readers will be pleasantly surprised with just how different Stories, Like Illnesses feels. This is novel, yes – but it’s also a compendium of ideas of memories, voices and texts. Open its pages and you will discover an entire world awaiting you: earwigs and crystals, mushrooms and jet engines. And the design? It’s simply gorgeous, where the text and images flooding the page in magnificent pairing.
At the core of this novel, however, is the exploration of memories and stories. We take a deep dive into Samuel’s childhood and his relationship with his mother. We also witness the origins of his relationship with his parasite-obsessed intern Viperine, and Rosie, a crystal-loving colleague. As Samuel tries to find stories to bring comfort and clarity, we see these threads slowly begin to converge, and that’s when this novel reaches some truly mind-blowing moments – no spoilers!
As Samuel moves through the book, there is this slowly accumulating sense of suffocation, anxiety, and existential dread that I found almost physically affecting at times. I found myself not merely reading about Samuel, but feeling, instead, like I was Samuel. Elkins’ ability to cast such feelings onto the reader is truly remarkable. This is a book about so many things, but after it was all over, what sat with me most is how this book made me physically feel.
For those who have already read the first two books of Five Strange Language, you’re in for a treat. This, to me, is the most daring and experimental of the three. It’s also may be the funniest and most tender. That could be recency bias – but I’ll find out soon enough. Reading Stories, Like Illnesses has made me want to revisit the other two books, as each entry fills out characters and events in new and exciting ways.
For those who haven’t read any of these books yet, now’s the time. There’s simply nothing else out there like them.
Stories, Like Illnesses can be hilarious, grotesque, anxious, tender, absurd, and devastating, sometimes within the space of a few pages. It is crowded with voices and memories and strange little details, but somehow, the emotional experience never feels scattered.
Instead, everything keeps building.
And building.
And building.
Until…
A truly incredible piece of work. Hands down, my favorite of 2026.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review