In her acclaimed new book Show Don’t Tell, bestselling author and iconic storyteller Curtis Sittenfeld exposes the complexity of modern life with humor and sagacity

In “The Patron Saints of Middle Age”, a woman visits two friends she hasn’t seen since her divorce. In “A for Alone”, a married artist embarks on a creative project intended to disprove the so-called Mike Pence Rule, which suggests that women and men can’t spend time alone together without lusting after each other. And in “Lost but Not Forgotten”, Sittenfeld gives readers of her novel Prep a window into the world of her beloved character Lee Fiora, decades later, when Lee attends an alumni reunion at her boarding school, reflecting on her past while contemplating her future with a potential new love.

What connects all the stories in Show Don’t Tell is their call not to try to fathom life, but simply to live it as best we can. This collection is a love letter to the ordinariness of existence, with all its chaos, beauty, and humor.

“What Sittenfeld displays in her expertly crafted and hugely engaging short-form fiction is, quite simply, supremely accomplished storytelling.” The Washington Post

“Brilliant. If you’re not into short stories, you’re just reading the wrong ones. Read these.” Financial Times