A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Library Journal , Electric Literature , The New York Public Library, PopMatters A Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the Story Prize National Book Award finalist Sarah Shun-lien Bynum’s highly anticipated return weaves together like and unlike, mythic and modern In nine stories that range from the real to the unreal, strange to familiar, funny to frightening, Sarah Shun-lien Bynum reminds us why her wildly original debut, Madeleine Is Sleeping , and her masterful Ms. Hempel Chronicles have become contemporary classics--celebrated and beloved. In a nimble dance of lightness and gravity, Likes explores the full range and contradictions of our contemporary moment. Through unexpected visitors, Waldorf school fairs, aging indie-film stars, the struggle to gain a foothold in the capitalist shell-game of work, the Instagram posts of a twelve-year-old―these stories of friendship and parenthood, celebrity and obsession, race and class and the passage of time, form an engrossing collection that is both otherworldly and suffused with the deceitful humdrum of everyday life. For readers of Joy Williams, George Saunders, Lauren Groff, and Deborah Eisenberg, Likes helps us see into our unacknowledged desires and, in quick, artful, nearly invisible cuts, exposes the roots of our abiding terrors and delights. A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: Library Journal , Electric Literature , The New York Public Library, PopMatters A Finalist for the Story Prize Longlisted for the Joyce Carol Oates Prize A Best Book of Fall at Refinery29 , Chicago Tribune , Los Angeles Magazine , Alma Magazine A WIRED Ultimate Summer Reading pick Most Anticipated at Time , WIRED, Lit Hub, PureWow, and The Millions, and Publishers Lunch "Finely attuned to both sensory and emotional detail . . . The adjectives that readers often attach to Bynum’s work―'enchanting,' 'charming,' 'precise'―are accurate, but . . . her skills and her sensibility are deeper and darker than that. The sentences are indeed meticulous, but never for their own sake; they bring to life characters who possess rich inner lives even when navigating moments that feel dreamily sinister or otherworldly . . . Bynum offers her reader inventively landscaped, beautifully manicured gardens teeming with rewardingly warty toads.” ―Caitlin Horrocks, The New York Times Book Review " Likes brilliantly captures our current moment . . . Certain authors have such mastery over the short story form that you never forget the first time you read their work. Lorrie Moore, for example. Jim Shepard. Deborah Eisenberg. Add to that impressive list Sarah Shun-lien Bynum with her new collection, Likes as evidence . . . Likes is a short-story collection you should read slowly, but it’s so good, each story at such a high-wire level, that you’ll wind up tearing through it and wishing for more." ―Bethanne Patrick, Washington Post "Captures the tensions that exist between technology, parenthood and growing up . . . The nine pieces, though rooted in reality, contain unexpected undercurrents of magic, coalescing into an innovative portrait of modern living." ― Time "Sparkling, transcendent . . . Each story is delicate and dazzling in its own way . . . The stories hum with thrilling detail and are touched here and there by small hints of magic . . . With the exuberance of the best Elizabeth McCracken stories and the insight of Tessa Hadley, these tales are at once gorgeously rendered and empathetic. This has the feel of an instant classic." ― Publishers Weekly , starred review "Throughout, Bynum combines a firm command of tone (often warm, even when dark) with precise detail . . . As clean prose dissects messy lives, these stories combine an empathetic heart with acute understanding." ― Kirkus, starred review "Despite her frequent use of the language of myths and fairytales, Bynum’s focus is deceptively ordinary. Time and again, her characters reckon with how―and if―you can ever really close the gap between yourself and someone else . . . Likes is a comforting reminder that relationships are often contradictory." ―Eve Sneider, WIRED "Known for her keen observation of human nature as well as her wit and humor, these tales investigate the conundrums of modern American living." ―Jennifer Day, Chicago Tribune “Sarah Shun-lien Bynum not only makes us see and feel what we may have missed in our busy lives, but articulates what we see and feel with the precise words we’ve always been searching for but rarely find. How does she capture the world in its shimmery and inexplicable state so deftly? Stories in this collection lead the readers to feel nostalgic for experiences both lived and missed, alarmed and yet thrilled by the mysteries hidden in everyday moments, and above all, hopeful and grateful that there is no need to compromise: we can live as fully and expansively as these stories.” ―Yiyun Li, author of Where