The Plagues
The biblical plagues that overtook Egypt in the book of Exodus are transported into the twenty-first century in The Plagues, a collection of eleven stories that take place primarily in St. Louis, Missouri, and its surrounding suburban areas, and Lafayette, Louisiana. Frogs, flies, blood, and boils descend upon a cast of primarily young, LGBTQ+ characters, all searching in some way for love and acceptance amidst burgeoning sexual awakenings. Equal parts playful and personal, Joe Baumann's The Plagues does more than recast the past; it charts a way forward.
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"Strange and terrible things happen to ordinary people, and they deal. Rivers of blood, flies, frogs, hail, darkness at noon and yes, locusts - plagues that descend on all, but are experienced individually, as plagues are. There's a superficial whimsy, a strange mixture of chaos and control, but also a deep seriousness. Over and again, Baumann's characters reach across the ever-widening gulfs opened by the ever-increasing weirdness of their worlds for human connection, sometimes successfully, sometimes not, but that's where the hope lies."
-Adam Brooke Davis, editor of Green Hills Literary Lantern
"Joe Baumann's short story collection is a fantastic, modern take on the Plagues of Egypt. These plagues tease out the problems hidden under the surface of the characters, unusual circumstances forcing protagonists and those around them to discover then confront desires and issues from deep within. Joe Baumann is a force of nature, and his collection is imaginative, heartfelt, and brilliant, and an absolute must-have."
-Aura Martin, author of Butterflies Over Flame
