When Watched

Book excerpt: A National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Honoree Whiting Award Winner PEN/Hemingway Award Finalist Lambda Literary Award Finalist Longlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for Debut Fiction & The Story Prize “Core captures a precious slice of what it is to be human. . . . She reaches moments of extraordinary grace.” —The New York Times Book Review “Pick up this book and prepare to face sublime recognition.” —Rookie “Full of dazzling insight and empathy.” —Refinery 29 Refreshing, witty, and absolutely close to the heart, Core’s twenty stories, set in and around New York City, have an other-worldly quality along with a deep seriousness—even a moral seriousness. What we know of identity is smashed and in its place, true individuals emerge, each bristling with a unique sexuality, a belief-system all their own. Reminiscent of Jane Bowles, William Burroughs, and Colette, her writing glows with an authenticity that is intoxicating and rare.