Nothing Looks Familiar
Shawn Syms
Publisher: Arsenal Pulp Press
Summary
The debut story collection of Shawn Syms, who has been publishing short stories in various literary journals and anthologies for several years. His stories are powerful character studies about the sense of disorientation that can be experienced by people in crisis, and how society’s disenfranchised – from bullied kids to reformed sex abusers - struggle to find a place in the world to call their own. Shawn has a keen talent for making readers feel empathetic towards those who live outside of our comfort zone, from meth-addicted mothers to grown men who like to dress up like babies. There is humor, but there is also a sense that no matter different from our own experience, these characters have dignity and are worth knowing. Many of his stories are inspired by his previous work as a journalist. While this book covers a lot of terrain, Shawn identifies as gay, and many of his characters are LGBTQ.