Man Hating Psycho: Stories

In Man Hating Psycho, Iphgenia Baal deftly identifies the unexpected humor, absurdism, and surreality of online encounters, demonstrating how the indifferent depravity that rules the internet has spilled over into our everyday, face-to-face interactions. In these stories, set among the uncertainty of post-Brexit London, the horror of the Grenfell Tower tragedy, and the confusion of the Covid-19 pandemic, young people stage rooftop confessions, group shows, and bowling-alley brawls, fumbling toward a hazy sense of self-knowledge in a world growing increasingly unfamiliar.

These stories meander like late-night conversations toward moments of unexpected vulnerability and depravity. In "Pain in the Neck," a woman's misguided act of generosity toward an old friend leads to one of the worst nights of her life. A group of teenagers in "Pro Life" disintegrates over a shocking secret that proves their inability to see one another clearly. And in "Crazy Menu," a dissolute stag party at a Ukrainian strip club unravels into a spectacle of lust and excess. Provocative, irreverent, and startlingly original, this collection cements Baal's reputation as one of the most resolute and daring voices in contemporary literature.