“[Miller] will tear your heart in two and then gently place the pieces back inside your chest.” —NPR
Queer infatuation, inevitable heartbreak, and satisfying revenge seamlessly intertwine in Sam J. Miller (Blackfish City, The Art of Starving)’s long-awaited debut short story collection. Whether innocent, guilty, or not even human, the boys, beasts, and men roaming through Miller’s gorgeously-crafted worlds can destroy you—yet leave you longing for them even more.
ISBN: Print ISBN: 978-1-61696-3729; Digital ISBN: 978-1-61696-373-6
Published: May 2022
Available Format(s): Trade Paperback and Digital
In Nebula Award-winning author Sam J. Miller’s devastating debut short-fiction collection, featuring an introduction by Amal El-Mohtar, queer infatuation, inevitable heartbreak, and brutal revenge seamlessly intertwine. Whether innocent, guilty, or not even human, the boys, beasts, and men roaming through Miller’s gorgeously crafted worlds can destroy readers, yet leave them wanting more.
“Miller’s sheer talent shines through in abundance . . . Boys, Beasts & Men is an outrageous journey which skillfully blends genres and will haunt you with its original, poetic voices as much as its victims, villains, and treasure trove of leading actors.”
—Grimdark Magazine
Despite his ability to control the ambient digital cloud, a foster teen falls for a clever con-man. Luring bullies to a quarry, a boy takes clearly enumerated revenge through unnatural powers of suggestion. In the aftermath of a shapeshifting alien invasion, a survivor fears that he brought something out of the Arctic to infect the rest of the world. A rebellious group of queer artists create a new identity that transcends even the anonymity of death.
Sam J. Miller (Blackfish City, The Art of Starving) shows his savage wit, unrelenting candor, and lush imagery in this essential career retrospective collection, taking his place alongside legends of the short-fiction form such as Carmen Maria Machado, Carson McCullers, and Jeff VanderMeer.
“Miller’s sheer talent shines through in abundance . . . Boys, Beasts & Men is an outrageous journey which skillfully blends genres and will haunt you with its original, poetic voices as much as its victims, villains, and treasure trove of leading actors.”
—Grimdark Magazine
“The very best horror in all its ghoulish, glorious humanity.”
—Deborah Miller, two-time winner of the PEN Syndicated Fiction Award (and also Sam’s mom)
Sam J. Miller is a Nebula-Award-winning author. His debut novel, The Art of Starving, was an NPR Best of the Year, and his second novel, BlackfishCity, was a Best Book of the Year for Vulture, The Washington Post, Barnes & Noble, and more, as well as a “Must Read” in Entertainment Weekly and O: The Oprah Winfrey Magazine. A recipient of the Shirley Jackson Award and a graduate of the Clarion Writers’ Workshop, Sam’s work has been nominated for the World Fantasy, Theodore Sturgeon, John W. Campbell, and Locus Awards, and reprinted in dozens of anthologies. The last in a long line of butchers, he lives in New York City and at samjmiller.com.
Praise for Sam J. Miller
“A rising star of science fiction in the US – and now worldwide.”
—Le Soir
“Sam J. Miller has proven himself a force to be reckoned with . . .”
—Barnes & Noble
“Sam J. Miller has cemented his status as one of the most visionary fiction writers of his generation. ”
—Kass Morgan, New York Times bestselling author of The 100
“[Miller] will tear your heart in two and then gently place the pieces back inside your chest—while reminding you to have a sandwich and love yourself.”
—NPR
Introduction by Amal El-Mohtar
Allosaurus Burgers
57 Reasons for the Slate Quarry Suicides
We Are the Cloud
Conspicuous Plumage
Shattered Sidewalks of the Human Heart
Shucked
The Beasts We Want to Be
Calved
When Your Child Strays from God
Things With Beards
Ghosts of Home
The Heat of Us: Notes Toward an Oral History
Angel, Monster, Man
Sun in an Empty Room
Boys, Beasts & Men
Sam J. Miller
“[Miller] will tear your heart in two and then gently place the pieces back inside your chest.”
—NPR
Queer infatuation, inevitable heartbreak, and satisfying revenge seamlessly intertwine in Sam J. Miller (Blackfish City, The Art of Starving)’s long-awaited debut short story collection. Whether innocent, guilty, or not even human, the boys, beasts, and men roaming through Miller’s gorgeously-crafted worlds can destroy you—yet leave you longing for them even more.
Boys, Beasts & Men
by Sam J. Miller
ISBN: Print ISBN: 978-1-61696-3729; Digital ISBN: 978-1-61696-373-6
Published: May 2022
Available Format(s): Trade Paperback and Digital
In Nebula Award-winning author Sam J. Miller’s devastating debut short-fiction collection, featuring an introduction by Amal El-Mohtar, queer infatuation, inevitable heartbreak, and brutal revenge seamlessly intertwine. Whether innocent, guilty, or not even human, the boys, beasts, and men roaming through Miller’s gorgeously crafted worlds can destroy readers, yet leave them wanting more.
“Miller’s sheer talent shines through in abundance . . . Boys, Beasts & Men is an outrageous journey which skillfully blends genres and will haunt you with its original, poetic voices as much as its victims, villains, and treasure trove of leading actors.”
—Grimdark Magazine
Despite his ability to control the ambient digital cloud, a foster teen falls for a clever con-man. Luring bullies to a quarry, a boy takes clearly enumerated revenge through unnatural powers of suggestion. In the aftermath of a shapeshifting alien invasion, a survivor fears that he brought something out of the Arctic to infect the rest of the world. A rebellious group of queer artists create a new identity that transcends even the anonymity of death.
Sam J. Miller (Blackfish City, The Art of Starving) shows his savage wit, unrelenting candor, and lush imagery in this essential career retrospective collection, taking his place alongside legends of the short-fiction form such as Carmen Maria Machado, Carson McCullers, and Jeff VanderMeer.
“Miller’s sheer talent shines through in abundance . . . Boys, Beasts & Men is an outrageous journey which skillfully blends genres and will haunt you with its original, poetic voices as much as its victims, villains, and treasure trove of leading actors.”
—Grimdark Magazine
“The very best horror in all its ghoulish, glorious humanity.”
—Deborah Miller, two-time winner of the PEN Syndicated Fiction Award (and also Sam’s mom)
Sam J. Miller is a Nebula-Award-winning author. His debut novel, The Art of Starving, was an NPR Best of the Year, and his second novel, Blackfish City, was a Best Book of the Year for Vulture, The Washington Post, Barnes & Noble, and more, as well as a “Must Read” in Entertainment Weekly and O: The Oprah Winfrey Magazine. A recipient of the Shirley Jackson Award and a graduate of the Clarion Writers’ Workshop, Sam’s work has been nominated for the World Fantasy, Theodore Sturgeon, John W. Campbell, and Locus Awards, and reprinted in dozens of anthologies. The last in a long line of butchers, he lives in New York City and at samjmiller.com.
Praise for Sam J. Miller
“A rising star of science fiction in the US – and now worldwide.”
—Le Soir
“Sam J. Miller has proven himself a force to be reckoned with . . .”
—Barnes & Noble
“Sam J. Miller has cemented his status as one of the most visionary fiction writers of his generation. ”
—Kass Morgan, New York Times bestselling author of The 100
“[Miller] will tear your heart in two and then gently place the pieces back inside your chest—while reminding you to have a sandwich and love yourself.”
—NPR
Introduction by Amal El-Mohtar
Allosaurus Burgers
57 Reasons for the Slate Quarry Suicides
We Are the Cloud
Conspicuous Plumage
Shattered Sidewalks of the Human Heart
Shucked
The Beasts We Want to Be
Calved
When Your Child Strays from God
Things With Beards
Ghosts of Home
The Heat of Us: Notes Toward an Oral History
Angel, Monster, Man
Sun in an Empty Room