Emily Austin

A fast-paced, hilarious, and ultimately hopeful novel for anyone who has ever worried they might be a terrible person—from the bestselling author of Everyone in This Room Will Someday Be Dead. Enid is obsessed with space. She can tell you all about black holes and their ability to spaghettify you without batting an eye in fear. Her one major phobia? Bald men. But she tries to keep that one under wraps. When she’s not listening to her favorite true crime podcasts on a loop, she’s serially dating a rotation of women from dating apps. At the same time, she’s trying to forge a new relationship with her estranged half-sisters after the death of her absent father. When she unwittingly plunges into her first serious romantic entanglement, Enid starts to believe that someone is following her. As her paranoia spirals out of control, Enid must contend with her mounting suspicion that something is seriously wrong with her. Because at the end of the day there’s only one person she can’t outrun—herself. Brimming with quirky humor, charm, and heart, Interesting Facts about Space effortlessly shows us the power of revealing our secret shames, the most beautifully human parts of us all.

A Novel

Interesting Facts about Space

To regret being born to our mothers the way we are is a canon event

“If I saw photos of my mom, teary-eyes at the thought of me being a girl, I would feel even more guilty for being born the way I am.” 

“I worry that I am a shell for something bad. That deep down, in the spot where most people keep their souls, I keep a weird little bug.” 

Cloudface

I doubt it's possible to have a baby and not imagine what vou want for it. If I were to ever fall pregnant, I would wonder what the sex of the baby is. Celebrations that center expectations around gender depress me, though. I don't think I am what someone would envision if they cut into a cake and saw pink. If I saw photos of my mom, teary-eyed at the thought of me being a girl, I would feel even more guilty for being born the way I am.

I spent a lot of time growing up trying to seem normal. Sometimes I worry I neglected doing the internal work most people do while they're developing; I was too preoccupied camouflaging. I think I might be stunted because of it. I think I missed a step.

I’ve dated girls before who told me gay people have two adolescences. The first is the one we're taught to have, where we suppress ourselves. In that time period, were less likely to have experienced the growing pains associated with forming our true adult identities. We have our second adolescence late, after we realize who we are.

That rings true, but I feel like it's more than that for me. I realize I'm gay, but I don't realize much of who I am beyond that. I feel like I'm still missing some crucial information that I need to fully form myself. I feel half-developed. I'm worried that if I were cut open, I'd see all my organs were half made. I think I'm missing parts.

I never want to cut myself open, though. In fact, I would rather be sealed shut. I'd rather be treated like a cursed tomb and have every orifice in my body cemented.

Anna Oeltjenbruns

I don't like thinking about it. Sometimes, when I'm grocery shopping, or out minding my own business, a little voice in my head reminds me that I've made my mom cry before. I wince at fleeting recollections of myself being terrible. I have this deep sense that I've done awful things-that I've really hurt someone but I'm not sure if I actually have. When the bug in my head starts whispering about how rotten I am, I distract myself. I turn on a podcast.

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