The Adventurists: and Other Stories

"Consistently one of my favorite short story writers." -- Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble

"Landscapes and memories alter, gentrify, and crumble in Butner's flawless debut collection, which wends ghosts, virtual futures, and the intricacies of friendship into 16 breathtaking, intimate stories. . . . Readers of John Crowley, Ray Bradbury, and Sally Rooney alike will find a home in this beautiful, grounded exploration of pasts and futures--and the people suspended between them."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"The collection opens with 'Adventure, ' with a long-overdue visit to an old friend and a tale told about a stranger, which may be just fantasy, but, setting the tone for the collection, the reality is not entirely clear-cut. . . . All in all, a worthwhile collection." -- Booklist

"A
resemblance to George Saunders' and Carmen Maria Machado's work, though
Butner has his own thematic obsessions. . . . In his best stories,
Butner effectively merges the strange setups with a bracing mix of humor
and dread." -- Kirkus Reviews

"Grounded by concrete pop culture details, each strange narrative makes what's familiar seem eerie." -- Foreword Reviews (starred review)

"At last, one of the contemporary masters of the uncanny and darkly humorous, Richard Butner, has his stories in one place where we can get at them. With a toe (just a toe) in the literary pool, and the rest of him splashing happily in the spec fic/sci-fi/surreal swimming hole, Butner's tales deal in the deadly habits of nostalgia, and the surprises waiting for the wistful and the obsessive whose march forward obliges a look backward. Linkean, Barthelmean, Saundersean . . . hm, okay, these guys do NOT lend themselves to sonorous adjectivization but, nonetheless, they'll have to welcome a new storyteller beside them on the shelf."--Wilton Barnhardt, author of Emma Who Saved My Life and Lookaway, Lookaway

"A Richard Butner story is an invitation to discovery alongside his characters. It's a left turn off of reality's highway and into its old business district: defiantly shabby, casually weird, and occasionally surreal, perfect in every grounding detail. Every story zigs when you expect it to zag. You only think you know where they are going, but it turns out you are on the same adventure as the protagonist, discovering as you go that the world is stranger than it was the minute before, and the minute before that. Well worth the journey."--Sarah Pinsker, author of We Are Satellites

"Richard Butner's stories are funny, scary, personal, dispassionate, satirical, and heartfelt, if those incompatible adjectives can be assembled to describe the same work. He writes about the subtle losses we suffer (often without noticing) as we get older, about love and loyalty, about how the past is never completely past and can come sweeping back over you at the slightest opportunity like a tidal wave, so you'd better be ready lest you drown."--John Kessel, author of Pride and Prometheus

Reviews of Richard Butner's stories

"Captivating and gripping."--Bookotron

"In the face of even the most absurd scenario, Butner's writing remains cool and understated; he treats the bizarre as if it were commonplace, e