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Misfits, by Mark Jonathan Harris

“Misfits is a startling collection of short stories — heartfelt, compassionate, full of sentiment yet unsentimental.”

–Paul Wolansky, Film Professor, Co-writer of The Guide and Dovbush: Lord of Black Mountain

How do you connect with others when you always feel out of place?

Following a kaleidoscopic array of characters adrift in a precarious world, Misfits grapples with the challenges of contemporary life, including climate change, inequality, uncertainty, and pain.

A depressed accountant stumbles on a teenage eco-terrorist in a parking garage; a middle-aged psychiatrist buys a drink for a seductive young artist during a flight delay; an out-of-work journalist recruits Chicano gangbangers to help a desperate tennis partner; a troubled biologist runs into J. Robert Oppenheimer in a Santa Fe hotel.

These fraught encounters all have unexpected and startling consequences. Despite their differences in age, background, and circumstance, the characters in Misfits share a common sense of dislocation and alienation. They struggle to find a sense of belonging and connection, but ultimately discover unexpected sources of resilience and hope.

With its evocative portrayal of Los Angeles as a microcosm of contemporary society, Misfits offers a compelling exploration of the human condition in an unpredictable and rapidly changing world.

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