Long Distance - by Aysegül Savas (Hardcover)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

A masterful and tender debut collection of stories from the acclaimed author of The Anthropologists, about distance and closeness in the age of connectivity.

"An exceptionally elegant, intelligent, and original writer." -Sigrid Nunez
"She is an author who simply, and astoundingly, knows." -Bryan Washington
"The rigor of Didion and the tenderness of Sebald." -Catherine Lacey
"One of my favorite writers." -Katie Kitamura

A researcher abroad in Rome eagerly awaits a visit from her long-distance lover, only to find he is not the same man she remembers. An expat meets a childhood friend on a layover and is dismayed by her unexpected contentment. A newly pregnant woman considers the American taboo of sharing the news too soon, but can't resist when an opportunity comes to patch up a damaged friendship.

Long Distance showcases Savas's devastating talent for the short story. Her shrewd encapsulations of contemporary life often center on characters displaced more by choice than circumstance, characters both determined to install themselves in new lives and preoccupied with the people they've left behind.

Review Quotes

"Tales of students, artists, and wanderers seeking connection as they strive to forge new paths in foreign places: Rome, Paris, Russia, and a body changed by pregnancy. The settings may be grand and distant, but the characters' concerns are intimate and recognizable. Savas sees the struggles of modern life and relationships with an elegant clarity and is breathtaking in her precision." --Vulture, "28 Books We Can't Wait to Read This Summer"

"Alliances and affections shift, understandings waver and beliefs are challenged in this collection of stories which individually and collectively convey the difficulties of maintaining connections in a fractured world. Subtle but clearly drawn sketches of the ties that bind and that, inevitably, come undone." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Savas captures the complexities of desire and loss in this gorgeous collection . . . With unsparing grace, Savas tenderly illustrates the struggles of her characters as they seek fulfillment. There's much to love in these brilliant stories." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Savas' prose is an X-ray-an acute portrait of the tender frequencies that make a life." --Raven Leilani, author of LUSTER on THE ANTHROPOLOGISTS

"The Anthropologists is about love, youth, and that most profound and elusive of subjects-happiness. Full of delicacy, wisdom and wit, this is another gorgeous work from one of my favorite writers." --Katie Kitamura, author of INTIMACIES on THE ANTHROPOLOGISTS

"[Savas] writes with both sensuality and coolness as if determined to find a rational explanation for the irrationality of existence." --Sarah Lyall, The New York Times on WALKING ON THE CEILING

"Savas' restrained style is a statement in itself, minimalist on the surface but more textured than what first meets the eye." --Michele Filgate, Los Angeles Times on WHITE ON WHITE

"[Savas] portrays millennials on the cusp of the next phase in their lives, whether that's buying a home or exploring new relationships. Populating these tales are richly textured characters struggling to make room for new goalposts while accommodating the old . . . The characters may be vulnerable, but they are never overwrought, a balancing act Savas executes flawlessly." --Booklist, starred review

About the Author