Things I Want Back From You

Set in the fictional California town of San Encanto – a place where suburban angst coexists with the astonishing – a lonely wife finds her oppressive husband has become a dirigible who follows her from the sky, a neglected boy spends his summer unwinding a parasitic Guinea worm from his little sister’s belly, and an aspiring life coach attends a self-actualization seminar that goes wildly off the rails. In Things I Want Back From You, Elizabeth Stix’s hilarious and poignant debut of 20 linked stories, hopelessly flawed characters flail against their own insecurities, seeking one true moment of connection, and if they’re lucky, winning that rarest of gifts – a second chance.

Bay area native elizabeth stix's stories have appeared in McSweeney’s, Tin House, Boulevard, Alaska Quarterly Review, The Los Angeles Times sunday magazine and the anthology Best Microfiction 2019. Her short story “alice” won the bay guardian fiction prize and was optioned by sneaky little sister films. She founded the litmag The Big Ugly Review, and three of her stories were performed live in la at the new short fiction series.