Leviathan Beach
by Joseph Earl Thomas

A wild and wildly original debut story collection that explores the present and future, violence and justice, the fantastic and the everyday, from Joseph Earl Thomas, “a writer of incredible gifts” (Justin Torres) who brought us Sink and God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer.

Leviathan Beach is a sharp and unforgettable collection of stories delving into the subtleties of family and community, war, labor, race and class in America, and the shared prospects of biological life on this planet. With brilliant, often humorous prose, Joseph Earl Thomas approaches his subject matter with scalpel-like precision, revealing profound truths and posing incisive questions at the level of the speculative and the hyper-real.

In “Cold War Kirby,” a brother is tasked with caring for his younger sister as their fragile family life crumbles. A son goes to dangerous lengths to make his ineffectual father proud in “The Gorilla.” Against the backdrop of global conflict, an anthropologist in “Resephon” seems to be the country’s last hope in stopping unpredictable and deadly attacks, if only his commanders would listen.

Both solemn and searching, scathing and indignant, Thomas approaches the multi-headed Leviathan of the present with great curiosity about life and little respect for mere tolerance, asking what it means to dream of a better future when the world is crumbling around you.