Subcortical

"The off-balanced but lively characters in Subcortical use their own braininess and grit in their attempts to navigate past the borders of their homes and histories. In the title story, a young woman who wants to become a doctor is manipulated by an older man to play a role in one of his medical studies. In the award-winning story "The Lock Factory," three women construct combination locks for schools on an assembly line. A recently unemployed man turns to a Muppet impersonator at a bar for job advice in "A Suggestion." A crystallographer in "Unit Cell" sees a ghost from her past through her microscope. In "The Rent-Controlled Ghost," a boy searches for the spirit of the mistreated tenant who formerly inhabited his apartment. "The Sextrology Woman" introduces readers to a mold removal specialist-in-training who must decide if his romantic relationship is worth fighting for. The timely return of an imaginary friend in "Guardian" forces a woman to reconsider her relationship with her dying mother. And a tour guide's own stories show up to haunt him in "A Guide to Sirens." This collection examines the unreliability of memory and the permeability between the real and the imagined. With humor and humanity, these dynamic stories delve into the mysteries that haunt Subcortical's characters' minds and hearts as they struggle with economic disparity, educational divides, and the often-contested urban spaces in which they live"--