Largely set in the South, the eleven stories of Body Language guide us into the hidden worlds of the culture wars. The people in these stories belong to the fringes of society, struggling for an identity and a place to belong.

“These visionary stories bring us an America that is as phantasmagoric as a Bosch painting come to life, yet as real as the daily news—a land of mega churches, tilt-a-whirls, thoughtful muggers, low-income apartment buildings, Jesus, runaways, lost cities, obese suicidal hikers, drag contests, tornados . . . a land both fragile and tough, heartbroken, and resiliently hopeful. In short, this is an amazing, urgent, vital book, and Kelly Magee is an exciting new literary talent.” —Dan Chaon, judge, and author of Among the Missing and You Remind Me of Me

“This debut collection will wake you up, provoke laughter and tears, and make you grateful to be human.”—Valerie Miner, author of Abundant Light and The Low Road

“Kelly Magee is just the writer we need for this new century—plain-talking, clear-minded, big-hearted, a writer unafraid of the hard truths rising up in the hinterlands to bedevil us. Ms. Magee is our newest soothsayer.”—Lee Abbott, author of Wet Places at Noon

Of related interest

What Are You Afraid Of?
1-57441-201-9 paper
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Let's Do
1-57441-185-3 paper
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Here Comes the Roar
1-57441-170-5 paper
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After growing up in Orlando, Florida, KELLY MAGEE moved to Ohio, where she currently teaches and writes. Her stories have appeared in Indiana Review, Quarterly West, Crab Orchard Review, and others. She has won awards from the Associated Writing Programs and Money for Women/Barbara Deming Memorial Fund. She currently teaches at The Ohio State University-Marion and lives in Columbus.

The Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction is awarded annually to a collection of short-shorts, short stories, or a novella. The winner receives $1,000 and publication by the University of North Texas Press. Selection is made by an eminent writer.