Meaningful Work: Stories

Winner of FC2's Ronald Sukenick Innovative Fiction Prize

A stunning look at the labor of obsession and the industry of self-destruction

In her lush, lyrical, and unflinching short fiction debut, JoAnna Novak examines the restless throb of desire amid the rote work of jobs and obligations, from the walk-ins of a New York banquet kitchen to the pier of Venice Beach. Fueled by jellyfish pad Thai and Necco wafers, Mountain Dew and Xiaolongbao, the characters in these stories defy boundaries and mores: In "MEMO 19," a former anorectic, bored of recovery and her clerical job, invites an unparalleled act of sexual defilement and in "Rio Grande, Wisconsin," a fleshly preteen fantasizes about Bill Murray on a family vacation to Wisconsin. Celebrating the grueling beauty of the shift and the ticking virtues of self-restraint, Meaningful Work is a pageant of formal experimentation, in fearless, glittering prose.


Author: Joanna Novak
Publisher: F2c
Published: 08/24/2021
Pages: 246
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.65lbs
Size: 8.40h x 5.40w x 0.80d
ISBN13: 9781573661911
ISBN10: 1573661910
BISAC Categories:
- Fiction | Literary
- Fiction | Short Stories (single author)

About the Author
JoAnna Novak is author of the novel I Must Have You and two books of poetry: Noirmania and Abeyance, North America. Her work has appeared in The Paris Review, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Conjunctions, AGNI, BOMB, and many other publications. She is cofounder of the literary journal and chapbook publisher Tammy.