Monstress: Stories

A San FranciscoChronicle Book of the Year: Short stories of Filipino American life that are “poignant, imaginative, somehow sad and funny all at once” (Anthony Doerr, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of All the Light We Cannot See).

Set among the Filipino-American communities of California and the Philippines, Monstress is the debut story collection of a breathtaking new literary talent. Already the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, a Whiting Award, and a Stegner Fellowship, Lysley Tenorio brilliantly explores the need to find connections, the melancholy of isolation, and the sometimes suffocating ties of family in tales that range from a California army base to a steamy movie house in Manila to the dangerous false glitter of Hollywood.

“Tenorio’s stories are built on unique—even outrageous—premises. Yet he manages to make fabulous setups plausible through his meticulous crafting, deeply imagining the lives of a memorable cast of eccentrics.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“Tenorio’s stories, set amid mingling nationalities and generations, prompt comparisons to the works of Junot Díaz and Jhumpa Lahiri.” —Los Angeles Times

“The debut of an electric literary talent. Brilliantly quirky, often moving, always gorgeously told.” —Chang-Rae Lee, New York Times–bestselling author of My Year Abroad

“A wonderful story collection that’s as wide and rich and complex as the geography it spans.” —Ben Fountain, PEN/Hemingway award–winning author of Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk

“A deep and original writer . . . simply a beautiful book.” —Jessica Hagedorn, National Book Award finalist and author of Dogeaters

© 2023 Ecco (Ebook): 9780062059604

Release date

Ebook: 21 November 2023