American Innovations

Rivka Galchen's debut story collection takes nine female narrators through quietly surreal disruptions to ordinary life — furniture that walks out, a compulsive takeout delivery, a woman who wakes to find a third breast has grown on her back. Each story is in covert conversation with canonical male-authored works, reimagined through a female lens, and Galchen's prose is precise, witty, and emotionally resonant. The literary voice is genuinely original and assured. The honest caveat is that the surrealist register can feel inaccessible or frustrating to readers expecting grounded realism, and at nine stories the collection is brief. Adult themes (body-horror elements, relationship dysfunction) make this best suited to adult and mature college-age readers. For literary fiction readers ready to engage with domestic surrealism at a high level, this collection rewards close attention.