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Big Bad
Within the thirteen stories of Whitney Collins’s Big Bad dwells a hunger that’s dark, deep, and hilarious. Part domestic horror, part flyover gothic, Big Bad serves up real-world predicaments in unremarkable places (motels, dormitories, tiki bars), all with Collins’s heart-wrenching flavor of magical realism. A young woman must give birth to future iterations of herself; a widower kills a horse en route to his grandson’s circumcision; a conflicted summer camper is haunted by a glass eye and motorcycle crash. Collins’s cast of characters must repeatedly choose to fight or flee the “big bad” that dwells within us all. Winner of the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction, and boasting a 2020 Pushcart-winning story, Big Bad simultaneously entertains and disconcerts
- GenresShort Stories
176 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 16, 2021
10 people are currently reading
179 people want to read
About the author
Whitney Collins
4 books29 followersWhitney 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
June 16, 2024
Where are we at with contemporary short fiction?
Carver style minimalism has come and gone, Barth and Barthleme's zany games passed away long before that, Lishian word play is a solidified but rarified niche, academic short fiction has flooded the smaller journals with technically perfect but all too often emotionless work while the glossies publish a handful of big name writers whose work feels written by committee along with a money back guarantee that there is no risk that it will shock or excite you.
In a literary landscape where every possible point on the map feels not only covered but saturated by masters there seems to be only one direction to go: deeper within.
It's not really worth dwelling on the settings or characters or plots of Collin's work here - which, not to give the wrong impression, are all wonderfully done, but because their differences outweigh their similarities - plenty of writers out there who are writing about the rust belt, or tortured teenagers exploring their sexuality, or difficult relationships.
Where Collins takes these characters and settings and goes beyond, far beyond, so many other writers working right now, is the sheer 'surprise' that is found in these stories. Not surprise in the sense of plot twists but surprise at every moment and at every level, in the way the sentences are written, in the make up of the characters, in the unfolding of events, in the concepts deployed, in the balance of the objective plane and subjective plane.
There is a subtle, but critical difference here between merely 'avoiding cliche' (which every competent writer masters early on) or 'being kooky' (which is immediately noticeable and immediately tiresome) and the kind of surprise deployed here the critical point here being that not only are all these categories innately surprising, the surprise feels absolutely inevitable.
Concrete instances of this abound: Uncle Eric tossing the toy piano down the stairwell in 'The Nest', usually distant Patricia taking a suddenly and violent interest in Mickey in 'The Pupil', Dean flying the stones in the model Airplane in 'Stone Fruit'. You couldn't have seen any of these coming and yet, after they happen, couldn't imagine events unfolding in any other way.
Then the use of images or symbols or items in a way that feels drawn from fairy tales, or even surrealist or alchemical works. Nearly every story has a series of these meaning laden 'totems' (in 'Bjorn' there is the cyst, the Royal Verano Pears, the duck breast, and Bianca's skin among others). A traditional story may laboriously lay these totems out like sign posts through the story, aggressively pointing at themselves and lending the story easily to sophomoric, allegorical unpacking. Here the totems are never lain out so much as they bob up from the depths almost unnoticed, functioning as nodes which fold up into a hyperdimensional shape, the meaning of each individual totem reflected and refracted in one another in a way that not only blows any rote interpretation out of the water but leaves one with a transcendent, almost mystical feeling reminiscent of when you stand in a mirrored room and feel as if you are hanging in endless space.
Not to give the wrong impression though, these stories are eminently readable, totally enjoyable and are clearly, at times stubbornly, set against any cleverness or trickery. Utterly human.
What strikes one about so much contemporary literary realist fiction is the obsession with objectivity, with reality, to the point that we are reading and writing stories about people staring at their phones because, objectively speaking, that's what most people do now. What is lost in this is the innate strangeness and irreality of subjective existence, which is the objective state for us all. Even though we can all agree that we live in a world made up of rocks and cars and phones it feels like we live in a world of strangeness, magic and flight. So some of Collins stories suddenly involve flight, or stones buried in the chest of one's partner or bouncing hearts, but this is not just for kookiness's sake or (again) rote postmodern experimentation but because it is the best tool for the job for explaining what it feels like to be human.
Phenomenal collection, best I've read in years.
Carver style minimalism has come and gone, Barth and Barthleme's zany games passed away long before that, Lishian word play is a solidified but rarified niche, academic short fiction has flooded the smaller journals with technically perfect but all too often emotionless work while the glossies publish a handful of big name writers whose work feels written by committee along with a money back guarantee that there is no risk that it will shock or excite you.
In a literary landscape where every possible point on the map feels not only covered but saturated by masters there seems to be only one direction to go: deeper within.
It's not really worth dwelling on the settings or characters or plots of Collin's work here - which, not to give the wrong impression, are all wonderfully done, but because their differences outweigh their similarities - plenty of writers out there who are writing about the rust belt, or tortured teenagers exploring their sexuality, or difficult relationships.
Where Collins takes these characters and settings and goes beyond, far beyond, so many other writers working right now, is the sheer 'surprise' that is found in these stories. Not surprise in the sense of plot twists but surprise at every moment and at every level, in the way the sentences are written, in the make up of the characters, in the unfolding of events, in the concepts deployed, in the balance of the objective plane and subjective plane.
There is a subtle, but critical difference here between merely 'avoiding cliche' (which every competent writer masters early on) or 'being kooky' (which is immediately noticeable and immediately tiresome) and the kind of surprise deployed here the critical point here being that not only are all these categories innately surprising, the surprise feels absolutely inevitable.
Concrete instances of this abound: Uncle Eric tossing the toy piano down the stairwell in 'The Nest', usually distant Patricia taking a suddenly and violent interest in Mickey in 'The Pupil', Dean flying the stones in the model Airplane in 'Stone Fruit'. You couldn't have seen any of these coming and yet, after they happen, couldn't imagine events unfolding in any other way.
Then the use of images or symbols or items in a way that feels drawn from fairy tales, or even surrealist or alchemical works. Nearly every story has a series of these meaning laden 'totems' (in 'Bjorn' there is the cyst, the Royal Verano Pears, the duck breast, and Bianca's skin among others). A traditional story may laboriously lay these totems out like sign posts through the story, aggressively pointing at themselves and lending the story easily to sophomoric, allegorical unpacking. Here the totems are never lain out so much as they bob up from the depths almost unnoticed, functioning as nodes which fold up into a hyperdimensional shape, the meaning of each individual totem reflected and refracted in one another in a way that not only blows any rote interpretation out of the water but leaves one with a transcendent, almost mystical feeling reminiscent of when you stand in a mirrored room and feel as if you are hanging in endless space.
Not to give the wrong impression though, these stories are eminently readable, totally enjoyable and are clearly, at times stubbornly, set against any cleverness or trickery. Utterly human.
What strikes one about so much contemporary literary realist fiction is the obsession with objectivity, with reality, to the point that we are reading and writing stories about people staring at their phones because, objectively speaking, that's what most people do now. What is lost in this is the innate strangeness and irreality of subjective existence, which is the objective state for us all. Even though we can all agree that we live in a world made up of rocks and cars and phones it feels like we live in a world of strangeness, magic and flight. So some of Collins stories suddenly involve flight, or stones buried in the chest of one's partner or bouncing hearts, but this is not just for kookiness's sake or (again) rote postmodern experimentation but because it is the best tool for the job for explaining what it feels like to be human.
Phenomenal collection, best I've read in years.
March 26, 2021
Excellent collection! The author creates completely believable, quirky, loveable (and in some cases hateable) characters with a minimum of words. Words never feel wasted. Several standouts here: “The Entertainer,” “Daddy-O,” “The Nest,” and there is something haunting about “Drawers” that I haven’t been able to shake. Highly recommended!
February 5, 2023
Having a hard time summarizing how I felt about this - would recommend if you're feeling a little whimsical and ready to lean into fiction, but be ready to feel emotional
December 30, 2024
The writing is so good on these. After the first story, which was my favorite, I had to stop and close the book for a second because it was so good. Some of them are very dark and maybe just a little too fantastical and weird for my personal taste, which is the only reason I didn’t give it five stars, but that’s literally just a matter of taste and no discredit to the author. The writing is top-notch amazing.
June 11, 2024
This is an incredible short story collection. It feels like George Saunders and Aimee Bender got together and wrote a very sad and macabre book-baby.
March 12, 2021
via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤, 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝.
I have a new favorite author and whether Whitney Collins writes another short story collection or a full novel, I’m first in line to buy it. The attitudes, thoughts, and emotional states of the characters rush at you with full force from the very first story. In 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘴𝘵, Frankie is confronted with the cruelty of life when she is introduced to her newborn brothers at the hospital. It is when her father leaves her with his blind mother at the nursing home that she discovers how refreshing adult honesty can be. About to turn seven, she’s thinking about sins, and the impossibility of keeping herself out of hell. Family relationships are strained and all the adults appear to be broken. Frankie knows some people just don’t stand a chance.
𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺– Paul Lemon tells the story of he how lost his son, his arms and why he married Pauline, ‘a marathon mouth’. 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘉𝘢𝘥-Helen gives birth to different versions of herself- too thin, too quiet, always busy, tough, weak, young, middle aged, and so old people question the soundness of her mind. Helen who tries to please, Helen who has had enough of the world, all the Helen’s on their way to something else. 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴– Lawrence is a widower lost without his wife Anne, haunted by the horrible things in the world. Now that Anne is no longer alive, a glimpse of who he was before another death changed him, is trying to remind him. His life, in her care, has always been orderly but now as he travels to attend his grandson’s circumcision he hits a horse on the road. He can’t control his endless, wretched thoughts.
In 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳, Rachel accompanies two spoiled girls and their family to the beach for two weeks. Her mother sees this as a window into a lucky life, a chance to make the right acquaintances. It’s the perfect life study on how the better half behaves, a chance to try a different life on for size and learn how to mold herself in their form. Rachel forgets who she is meant to be, and learns it’s all about doing ‘whatever it takes’. 𝘋𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘺-𝘖 is impossible to tie down, coming and going with the seasons. Mabel’s mother is irritated that her ex-husband is always so “inexcusably happy” while Mabel wishes for a far more reserved father. Now that she’s in her sophomore year of high school he is just embarrassing but does he have something worth teaching her?
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘭– Mikey is a fatherless boy since his dad’s death, but his Uncle Drake has come to be the male influence in his life that his mother thinks he needs. To Mikey’s way of thinking, all his mother’s brother does is plop his butt down on his dead father’s recliner and simmer with anger. He wants to make him tough, see that he ‘grows a pair’. Maybe this isn’t the sort of manhood he wants to learn but what does a fake eye have to do with anything? 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 introduces readers to Marta and Dean at a couple’s retreat, Marta’s mind on his cold, stony love and wondering if she’ll ever locate his warmth. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴– Spencer craves emptiness as his lover when he decides to leave his family. Who needs the never-ending circus family creates?
𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴– Lenora houses a collection of hearts, twitchy and veined, attending to them with tenderness, while her own is ‘muscular with longing’. Then she meets Ready.𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘎𝘶𝘺𝘴– Leonard has come from Illinois to live at the cooperative dorm at his college and soon becomes an easy target for Teddy to tease. Before long, his unique hobby makes him interesting, rather than just someone to break. But how much of a good guy is Teddy capable of being, uncomfortable in the warm glow of Leonard’s friendship? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘮𝘱– Jarrod is on a call to fix a satellite, but the customer is a girl who seems both brave and dumb, and doesn’t actually have a satellite. What, then, is she about to propose he do for her? Last is 𝘉𝘫𝘰𝘳𝘯, a story about a girl named Bianca and a cyst on her forehead that becomes her mother’s obsession and later, a story that grows and grows. How can she resist poking and prodding her mother’s fears?
I love this collection and all the characters that populate it. It’s filled with people who are sometimes mean and rotten without reason they can find, clever and brave, or bursting to escape their life. There is darkness in the corners of some minds, even when they try their best to be better. Some are calamities while others cause them. There is also a little bit of magical realism within. The writing was great and the subjects fascinating though they mostly live in ordinary worlds. Worms on a summer sidewalk… what a line! Can’t wait for the next book!
Publication Date: March 16, 2021
Sarabande Books
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲’𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐚 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤, 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝.
I have a new favorite author and whether Whitney Collins writes another short story collection or a full novel, I’m first in line to buy it. The attitudes, thoughts, and emotional states of the characters rush at you with full force from the very first story. In 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘦𝘴𝘵, Frankie is confronted with the cruelty of life when she is introduced to her newborn brothers at the hospital. It is when her father leaves her with his blind mother at the nursing home that she discovers how refreshing adult honesty can be. About to turn seven, she’s thinking about sins, and the impossibility of keeping herself out of hell. Family relationships are strained and all the adults appear to be broken. Frankie knows some people just don’t stand a chance.
𝘚𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘺– Paul Lemon tells the story of he how lost his son, his arms and why he married Pauline, ‘a marathon mouth’. 𝘉𝘪𝘨 𝘉𝘢𝘥-Helen gives birth to different versions of herself- too thin, too quiet, always busy, tough, weak, young, middle aged, and so old people question the soundness of her mind. Helen who tries to please, Helen who has had enough of the world, all the Helen’s on their way to something else. 𝘋𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴– Lawrence is a widower lost without his wife Anne, haunted by the horrible things in the world. Now that Anne is no longer alive, a glimpse of who he was before another death changed him, is trying to remind him. His life, in her care, has always been orderly but now as he travels to attend his grandson’s circumcision he hits a horse on the road. He can’t control his endless, wretched thoughts.
In 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘳, Rachel accompanies two spoiled girls and their family to the beach for two weeks. Her mother sees this as a window into a lucky life, a chance to make the right acquaintances. It’s the perfect life study on how the better half behaves, a chance to try a different life on for size and learn how to mold herself in their form. Rachel forgets who she is meant to be, and learns it’s all about doing ‘whatever it takes’. 𝘋𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘺-𝘖 is impossible to tie down, coming and going with the seasons. Mabel’s mother is irritated that her ex-husband is always so “inexcusably happy” while Mabel wishes for a far more reserved father. Now that she’s in her sophomore year of high school he is just embarrassing but does he have something worth teaching her?
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘗𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘭– Mikey is a fatherless boy since his dad’s death, but his Uncle Drake has come to be the male influence in his life that his mother thinks he needs. To Mikey’s way of thinking, all his mother’s brother does is plop his butt down on his dead father’s recliner and simmer with anger. He wants to make him tough, see that he ‘grows a pair’. Maybe this isn’t the sort of manhood he wants to learn but what does a fake eye have to do with anything? 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘶𝘪𝘵 introduces readers to Marta and Dean at a couple’s retreat, Marta’s mind on his cold, stony love and wondering if she’ll ever locate his warmth. 𝘛𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘊𝘰𝘶𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴– Spencer craves emptiness as his lover when he decides to leave his family. Who needs the never-ending circus family creates?
𝘓𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘴– Lenora houses a collection of hearts, twitchy and veined, attending to them with tenderness, while her own is ‘muscular with longing’. Then she meets Ready.𝘎𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘎𝘶𝘺𝘴– Leonard has come from Illinois to live at the cooperative dorm at his college and soon becomes an easy target for Teddy to tease. Before long, his unique hobby makes him interesting, rather than just someone to break. But how much of a good guy is Teddy capable of being, uncomfortable in the warm glow of Leonard’s friendship? 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘮𝘱– Jarrod is on a call to fix a satellite, but the customer is a girl who seems both brave and dumb, and doesn’t actually have a satellite. What, then, is she about to propose he do for her? Last is 𝘉𝘫𝘰𝘳𝘯, a story about a girl named Bianca and a cyst on her forehead that becomes her mother’s obsession and later, a story that grows and grows. How can she resist poking and prodding her mother’s fears?
I love this collection and all the characters that populate it. It’s filled with people who are sometimes mean and rotten without reason they can find, clever and brave, or bursting to escape their life. There is darkness in the corners of some minds, even when they try their best to be better. Some are calamities while others cause them. There is also a little bit of magical realism within. The writing was great and the subjects fascinating though they mostly live in ordinary worlds. Worms on a summer sidewalk… what a line! Can’t wait for the next book!
Publication Date: March 16, 2021
Sarabande Books
March 8, 2025
wonderful writing
Read
December 1, 2025Maybe I'm used to reading flash fiction, but I feel I'd forgotten what a short story can do when given breathing room.
Collins has a clear style that basically all of these adhere to. We've got a lot of young-ish people realizing how messed up the world can be.
Several stories features fantasies and imaginary bits that may not actually be imaginary? It’s an odd liminal mental space, but one that works for many of these characters who feel caught between things (often childhood and adulthood).
I love the way she's able to introduce key elements and bring them together into fascinating conclusions. Recommend for short story fans!
Collins has a clear style that basically all of these adhere to. We've got a lot of young-ish people realizing how messed up the world can be.
Several stories features fantasies and imaginary bits that may not actually be imaginary? It’s an odd liminal mental space, but one that works for many of these characters who feel caught between things (often childhood and adulthood).
I love the way she's able to introduce key elements and bring them together into fascinating conclusions. Recommend for short story fans!
December 29, 2022
This is a delightful collection of short stories, filled with razor sharp characterization, subtle, significant details, and a level of humanity that will touch the reader. The supernatural emerges in several stories, mostly to surprising, good effect. I had not read a collection of short stories for some time, and I enjoyed how each one unfolded like a window into a life, a moment in time, a scenario, and then neatly closed the curtain at the end. I particularly enjoyed “Lonelyhearts” and “Good Guys.” Keep this one on your bedside table to pick up and enjoy at your leisure.
November 26, 2021
Picked up this book of short stories because it was written by a local author. Glad I have read them and they are very expertly written. Short stories amaze me with their ability to tell stories in such a spare way and these were an excellent example! That being said there are dark and weird places these stories go - but that was the point and the title points you in this direction.
April 7, 2021
Excellent collection of short stories. Lots of variety in the characters and situations, and lots of rich detail in the descriptions. If you like Lorrie Moore or Tobias Wolff, you'll enjoy reading these stories.
April 11, 2021
I don't think I've ever underlined so many final lines of stories. This author is excellent at building a story to a final startling pitch. My favorites are the first two stories, "The Nest" and "Sunday," plus "The Entertainer" and "Good Guys."
March 31, 2021
Delightful and strange. Stories I could read over and over again.
July 25, 2021
I am now a fan of Whitney Collins! I love her creative, funny, dark, and descriptive style. I hope she's working on a novel!
January 11, 2022
Unique but good
May 17, 2022
Mundane and grotesque and fantastic. Couldn't stop thinking about them
May 13, 2022
One of my favorite collections I've read over the past couple of years, full of vividly written characters, indelible dialogue, fully-nuanced plot, and striking images. All thirteen pieces were so strong and fun to read. My top three were "The Nest," "The Entertainer," and "The Pupil." I was also drawn to some of the more surreal pieces, "Big Bad" and "Lonelyhearts."
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews