Perverts

Stories

By: Mac (Marisa) Crane

A full-frontal confrontation of the ways we perform desire and shame—from the downright bizarre to the frighteningly relatable—by the award-winning author of A Sharp Endless Need

An employee at a hunting ground where people pay to act out hate crimes prepares to meet their girlfriend’s parents for the first time. A self-destructive client engages in an affair with their therapist, careening their relationship toward its inevitable breaking point. At a theme park where men pay to ogle women dressed as sirens, a mild-mannered boat attendant gets engaged to the star performer. And in the title story, a pregnant internet sex worker blackmails her clients into attending a disastrous party.

Nothing is off limits for Mac Crane as they rework classic stories of rejection, isolation, and connection to suggest that the so-called pervert, by existing in the margins of society, may be the one who sees the world most clearly. Crane brings their keen eye for the unsavory to seventeen transgressive stories that are as tantalizing and addictive as the characters’ experiences. A provocative and uproarious collection about pleasure, performance, and pain, Perverts is an exaltation of the awesome depravity of queer modernity.

Critic reviews

“The engine of Mac Crane’s Perverts is desire at work—how desire works on us, how work perverts desire. Funny and bleak like a queer George Saunders, these stories weird up daily life in the money economy, pitching their battles against rainbow capitalism and cisheteropatriarchy alike. I love this book!”—Andrea Lawlor, author of Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl

“A collection of charming, deeply felt stories running the gamut from imaginative sex work to unexpected voyeurism to meaningful connection between strangers. . . . This romp of a book is about queer and trans identity, queer parenthood, and the way technology changes relationships. Perverts is delightfully lively and hilarious, Crane an exciting, kinky, queer, speculative new voice in the art of the short story.”—Lydi Conklin, author of Songs of No Provenance