by Sarah Hall, Peter Hobbs, Kevin Barry, Ali Smith, Jon McGregor
First published 2016
Twenty international writers dissect humanity's most primal impulses in a collection that cuts straight to the nerve. These stories trace the razor's edge between creation and destruction, where sexual desire and mortality dance their dangerous, intimate tango. Each narrative probes how humans navigate the fundamental drives of reproduction and self-annihilation—sometimes with brutal honesty, sometimes with unexpected tenderness. Characters confront their most visceral urges across cultures, revealing the universal tremors beneath personal experience. From urban landscapes to remote territories, these stories challenge readers to recognize the thin membrane separating life's generative and destructive forces. A literary exploration that feels less like an anthology and more like a global nervous system exposed.
Genres: literary-fiction, anthologies, contemporary, adult-fiction, 21st-century, erotica
Vibes: dark, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: dark-themes, visceral-urges
336 pages · Hardcover · Harper
Content warnings: death, explicit-sexual-content