Overview

Acid rainstorms have transformed New York City into a toxic wasteland, cutting its remaining citizens off from one another. In one apartment building, an unlikely family of humans and ghosts survives. Mira reels from a devastating breakup with her partner, Mal, whose whereabouts are unknown, while her mother is plagued by furious dreams and her grandfather, Grandpa Why, stakes his claims as a rambunctious ghost. Across the hall, the cockroach Shin, also a ghost. As the world around them worsens, each character must learn to redefine what it means to live, die, and love at the end of the world.

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9781324076186

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Reviews

""A moving exploration of grief and survival."" -- People ""Muriel Leung gives us such elegance and tenderness and visions of loss and connection inside this broken world."" -- Aimee Bender, author of The Butterfly Lampshade ""An astonishing feat of the imagination and the human heart, this book is a one-of-a-kind experience. A haunting and exquisite debut novel."" -- Elaine Hsieh Chou, author of Disorientation ""A singular work of fiction: joyfully grotesque and ridiculously sexy. Muriel Leung’s characters—ghosts, vermin, apocalypse survivors all—made me laugh out loud as often as they broke my heart. I loved it all, every single word."" -- Jean Chen Ho, author of Fiona and Jane ""Muriel Leung builds a hypnotic world where the real and the spectral are layered like watercolors. To read this book is to be heartbroken, haunted, and, ultimately, healed."" -- Jenny Xie, author of Holding Pattern ""Astonishing . . . writhes with heartbreak and wonder. Visionary, horny, and surprising at every turn, this novel is a triumph."" -- Henry Hoke, author of Open Throat ""Poet Leung’s polyphonic debut novel is undoubtedly strange, infused with a ubiquitous, desperate longing for connection, suggesting that creating community might be the only antidote amidst apocalyptic collapse."" -- Terry Hong - Booklist ""Leung’s novel strikes a satisfying chord, harmonizing joy and optimism with despair and melancholia. Surreal imagery combines with poetic prose to illustrate what life and love look like when crisis becomes commonplace and everyone is grieving—even the ghosts. At once absurd and profound."" -- Kirkus ""Mesmerizing… a wildly original and disorienting rumination on love amid chaos."" -- Publishers Weekly

"""Leung gives us such elegance and tenderness and visions of loss and connection inside this broken world. Here is a book that invites and rewards immersion; the characters and their experiences will stick powerfully with a reader."" -- Aimee Bender, author of The Butterfly Lampshade ""Muriel Leung’s astonishing transmission from an apocalyptic NYC writhes with heartbreak and wonder. What a gift to share ongoing end-times with this kaleidoscopic cast of ghosts, insects, and grieving humans. Visionary, horny, and surprising at every turn, How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster is a triumph."" -- Henry Hoke, author of Open Throat"

Author Information

Muriel Leung is the prize-winning author of three poetry collections and teaches critical studies and creative writing at the California Institute of the Arts. She lives in Los Angeles, California.

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