We Come to Our Senses: Stories

Book excerpt: A Military Times Best Book of 2016 An Electric Literature Best Short Story Collection of 2016 "Almost a novel in stories, thematically linked like Phil Klay's Redeployment, but more particular in its examination of the new American veteran." —New York Times Book Review Lacerating and lyrical, We Come to Our Senses centers on men and women affected by combat directly and tangentially, and the peculiar legacies of war. The story “Evie M.” is about a vet turned office clerk whose petty neuroses derail even her suicide; in “We Come to Our Senses,” a hip young couple leaves the city for the sticks, trading film festivals for firearms; in “Colleen” a woman redeploys to her Mississippi hometown, and confronts the superior who abused her at war; and in “11/19/98” a couple obsesses over sitcoms and retail catalogs, extracting joy and deeper meaning. The story “Hers” is about the sexual politics of a combat zone.