Crawl - by Max Delsohn (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

A darkly comic, introspective debut collection that looks beneath the surface of trans life in 2010s Seattle

People called it paradise, but baby, it wasn't.

What to do when starting testosterone unlocks a newfound desire for men? How to respond when your boss's boss asks if you've had "the surgery" and then requests you talk her niece out of transitioning? What obligation do you have to intervene in the faltering mental health of the baby trans drug dealer you've met only once while tripping on the acid he sold you?

The young transmasculine characters in Crawl navigate these and other questions in the dive bars, bathhouses, parks, workplaces, music venues, beaches, and college campuses of 2010s Seattle. Max Delsohn's stories--by turns exuberant, heartfelt, tragic, and wry--portray the pleasures and pains of sex and romance, the possibilities and ambivalences of gender expression, and the joys and failures of community in a city and a time that has branded itself a radical queer utopia but proves much more complicated in reality.

Review Quotes

Vulture's "Best Books of 2025 (So Far)"

"Max Delsohn's wry debut story collection delves into the pleasure and pain of transmasc life in 2010s Seattle. (Siri, play Death Cab)."--Language Arts

"Max Delsohn writes like a throwback transmasc Mary Gaitskill; his melancholy trans guys and various masc gendered people behave badly in their early adulthoods, propelled by longing, procrastinating self-awareness, occasionally getting what they want. Ah, youth! I inhaled this collection like gossip from a far-off city's scene. My favorite new short story writer--watch this guy!"--Andrea Lawlor, author of Paul Takes the Form of a Mortal Girl

"Max Delsohn's debut short story collection, Crawl, is a deep dive into trans life in 2010s Seattle. His characters make their way through dive bars and bathhouses, surviving intrusive interrogations by cis employers and experiencing a host of other moving, but often funny, millennial adventures."--Paul Wilner, ALTA Journal

"Delsohn captures the pathos and humor of transmasculine life in this entrancing debut. . . . [He] displays enviable craft throughout the collection, evident in the skillfully composed arc of every story and the deftness and wit of individual lines. . . . This is a no-skips collection."--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Despite hanging up his comedy hat, Delsohn's wry sense of humour is sharp as ever in Crawl. His characters go on bad Tinder dates, 'moon' their exes, and navigate the trenches of the friend zone; each tender moment is balanced with one of levity and wit, making for a collection that's not only touching but also compulsively readable."--Isabel Bekele, Dazed Magazine

"Adventurous, witty, heartfelt, and very moving, Crawl takes us on a journey through the land of longing and reminds us, in the way that only literature can, that we all live in that land; that 'identity' has to do with the particular, lovely flavor of our longing, and of that essential pursuit called: trying to be one's true self. Max Delsohn, a wildly talented, very bold, very funny new writer, has the rare gift of knowing how to (wryly) celebrate life, love, and desire in all their forms."--George Saunders, author of Liberation Day

"A horny, hilarious, bittersweet romp through millennial transmasc malaise--Crawl aches and charms in turn. Max Delsohn is a writer to watch."--Carmen Maria Machado, author of In the Dream House

"Max Delsohn has a poet's sense of yearning, a stand-up's sense of timing, and a 3 a.m. hookup's desperate frankness about sex--all of which combine to make Crawl one of my favorite story collections of the past few years."--Torrey Peters, author of Stag Dance

"Max Delsohn is a brilliant new voice, as funny, wild, and original as they come. He writes with bracing honesty and complexity from an insider's perspective. His work can be sharply ironic and wonderfully entertaining while also exploring deeper questions about connection, about dignity, about identity."--Dana Spiotta, author of Eat the Document

"In this megavolt debut, Max Delsohn's wild sense of humor is matched only by the keen precision of the prose. These stories explore gender and what it means to be. Read these sexy, hilarious, electric stories and be awed."--Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, author of Chain-Gang All-Stars

"A lust-filled, vibrant collection of tender, juicy stories that recall the hedonism of being young and chasing the next big thrill. Like befriending the women's rugby team and watching them transition one by one in a haze of bong smoke."--Grace Byron, author of Herculine

"A stunning and necessary collection about love, desire and identity. These vivid and unforgettable stories shimmer with life, wit, heartbreak, and brilliant humor. Max Delsohn is an immense and singular talent who drills down to the messy truth of the human heart and names all its shades of joy and pain."--Mona Awad, author of We Love You, Bunny

About the Author