Wax

by Pádraig Hogan

"A subtly existential collection in which each story defracts, complicates, compliments, and magnifies the others. Intense and satisfying, and very painfully human"
-Brian Evenson, author of The Glassy, Burning Floor of Hell and Song for the Unraveling of the World

"Short-titled and tightly tense, each story in this Padraig Hogan collection builds into a much larger Wax of human catastrophe. It's also sincerity, and it's sincere pessimism, such as in "Fingers" and "Flowers"; personal favourites, yet also metonyms for so many characters ripped from their sockets. Fans of the grim are recommended to make sure they're ready."
-Pascale Potvin, Editor-in-Chief of Wrongdoing Magazine

"In these stories the material world sometimes seems in rebellion against the hapless protagonists. Buildings and rooms don't seem the places of comfort they were intended to be. Shirts are hard to button. The natural world is in on the plot too, and the fallen angels-smug bureaucrats we should have expected them to be-have come to bargain for souls that seem no longer worth the trouble it takes to carry their extra weight. These are hard, sharply crafted tales for weird and troubled times. Padraig Hogan's voice cuts and delights throughout-alternately empathetic and unpitying, this work offers no refuge but in what serious and considerable pleasure-and even joy-remains to us in sharing words and the mind pictures they make of these humans and their alternately painful and comic earthly predicaments."
-Anthony McCann, author of Thing Music and Shadowlands: Fear and Freedom at the Oregon Standoff

74 pages, Paperback

Published December 2, 2022

About the author

Padraig Hogan is an author and musician from the foothills outside of Yosemite, CA. He has a BA in English and Philosophy with a minor in Creative Writing from Fresno State University. When he isn't writing stories, he's writing music for one of his metal bands or spoiling his cat Logan Hogan.

Reviews

[Kristiana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always admire anyone who can write a short story well and Hogan does. Wax is an intriguing and enjoyable read.

[Ami J. J. Sanghvi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Literally my favorite collection of short stories I've read so far. In his debut, Hogan blurs the lines between genre and literature in a manner which appears effortless, but is actually deeply masterful in both nature and execution. His unique voice and genius blend of vibrant poetics and melancholy prose stand out as individual embodiments woven with care and inherent ease, yet remarkable in their subtlety regardless. Pádraig Hogan will, without a doubt, proceed to become one of the defining literary voices of this generation, just as Kurt Vonnegut was for his--and rightfully so.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible. I am not always a fan of short stories. No reason, I just like a good, long book. However, there have been a few short story books I have enjoyed and this one just went to the top. Padraig has that rare knack of being able to describe, with few words but the exact correct words, to help you feel or see what he wants you to feel or see. (I grind my teeth - it was spot on.) Short, sometimes tense, stories about life with just a dash of other-worldliness flair for fun. Wonderfully written, deep, insightful, dramatic, and heartfelt. A must read. For everyone. I cannot wait for his next book.

[Pádraig Hogan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to anyone who has read this book and has reviewed it, good or bad! I cannot express enough what it means to have someone devote their time to something you wrote and I hope I have piqued your interest enough to explore future work, as well! Thank you again.

[Ashli Ward · Rating 5 out of 5]

My words for "Wax"

I'm no good at writing reviews, but I will try my best. "Wax" is absolutely fantastic and thought provoking. Padraig is magical in that he can portray the obscure as deeply relatable and imperfections as almost desirable. I will be looking forward to and purchasing any of Padraig Hogan's books from here on out.