My first time reading Katherine Dunn even though I've had Geek Love on my shelf for years.

The first thing I admire about this book is its inclusion of truly short fiction: stories that are only a few pages long but present a clear vision or scene, conveyed through crisp imagery and description, and that leave you with a distinct impression before moving on and changing gears. "Fanno Creek" and "The Flautist" were like this, and I really enjoyed them both. There are several longer stories, too, that are urgent and compelling from the get-go; my favorites are "In Transit," "Rhonda Discovers Art," and the title story "Near Flesh."

These five stories are the biggest takeaways from the collection for me. The stories gain traction and momentum as readers progress through them; they really start to take off toward the middle, and I appreciate this thoughtful attention to curating the reading experience.

Dunn navigates many different styles and subjects through these stories and I appreciate the range of ideas exhibited here. Not every story worked for me and that's OK because the ones that did will stick with me. I think this collection stands as a great introduction to Katherine Dunn, and it's inspired me to finally read Geek Love.