Publishers Weekly
11/25/2019
Kispert’s piercing debut collection features characters caught in ambivalence and deceit. Many of the stories undercut humor with pangs of regret, such as “In the Palm of His Hand,” which traces the effects of a 20-something man’s detachment as he pretends to be a devout Christian in order to score a date with a religious man. The darkly satirical “Rorschach” tracks a theater entrepreneur’s anguish over the success of his bizarre stage piece “Crucifixion,” which features public executions of death row inmates onstage. Ten of the 21 stories are short-shorts, serving as palate cleansers between the longer, more ambiguous pieces. “Goldfish Bowl” wryly captures the dysfunctional patterns of a failed relationship in two pages, while the full-length title story follows a man’s desperate attempt to hire an actor to impersonate a friend in order to hide his loneliness from his boyfriend. Often, the protagonists sabotage their potential happiness via obsessive self-reflection. The breezy style occasionally belies the effort required to connect the short, splintered scenes and peripheral characters into a coherent picture, though they leave the reader with juicy questions to chew on. This lively and provocative work crisply reflects the challenges of modern love. Agent: Caroline Eisenmann, Frances Goldin Literary Agency. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
"Piercing... this lively and provocative work crisply reflects the challenges of modern love." —Publishers Weekly
"Kispert blends sharp characterization with intriguing premises throughout this memorable collection." —Kirkus (starred)
"Kispert’s short fiction is a performative lie that reveals truth to readers in subtle, surprising ways that literary fiction lovers will devour... [these] stories dig deep, and they’re far from forgettable." —Booklist (starred)
"Kispert's stories have remarkable range, but are all anchored by lithe and lucid prose compelling the reader to become complicit in these very human dramas.” —OprahMag.com
"This debut collection has a wisdom and a tapestry of language far beyond the author's years. Loosely linked unreliable narrators remind us that we might find religion in the most unlikely places — such as the space between a truth and a lie.” —Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of A Spark of Light and Small Great Things
"Engrossing, unsettling, full of characters in search of their place in the world, I Know You Know Who I Am reminds me in the best possible way of the debut collections of Mary Gaitskill and Adam Haslett, in tone and talent and the promise of what will come next." —David Ebershoff, New York Times bestselling author of The Danish Girl and The 19th Wife
"This book is a beautiful Russian Nesting Doll: to try, to know, to understand. In these pages, intimacy is often a weapon, a drug, and a salve. Astonishingly tense and terrifically crafted, Kispert's collection is not only a work of art, it's a work of true tenderness." —Kristen Arnett, New York Times bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things
“Sometimes you read a collection and you wonder how a mere mortal wrote it because the language is so pure, the depth of emotion so profound—Peter Kispert is a wizard, creating a collection of liars and lies that will ring true in the heart of any reader. A tour de force: read this book.” —Nick White, author of How to Survive a Summer and Sweet & Low
“Cuts right to the bone with startling observation: we obfuscate because to be seen, truly seen, is to risk everything. And yet, this remarkably assured collection leaves it all on the page with startling honesty for us – the reader – to see.” —Steven Rowley, bestselling author of The Editor and Lily and the Octopus
"If I could give the characters in Peter Kispert’s expansive, funny, and moving collection the forgiveness and recognition they seek, I would do so whole-heartedly. These unforgettable stories look head on at the spectacles we make of our lives and the impossibility of turning away from them. A talent to watch." —Danielle Lazarin, author of Back Talk
"Lashed by years and bound by love, the liars in this incredible debut punish themselves as their compulsions and betrayals tremble across time. Cut crosswise, their lives show these pathologies at work, just as hard and irradiating, superheated and sad, as the prose in which they’re rendered. Above all, it is Kispert’s immense talent that we come to understand, and even love, who they are." —Patrick Nathan, author of Some Hell
"A darkly hilarious, astute collection that comes to us at the perfect time, where the truth and intimacy feel more elusive than ever." —John Paul Brammer, creator of the advice column ¡Hola Papi!
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2019-11-11
The characters in Kispert's debut collection grapple with chaotic lives, troubled memories, and shifting identities.
The narrator of the title story pays a man to act out the role of a fictional friend from the tales he's told his boyfriend about his life before they met. This sets in motion a cascading series of events that prompts a meditation on the paradoxical nature of "true stories," which in turn casts a long shadow over the rest of the book. The next story is "Puncture," whose second sentence feels like a reaction to "I Know You Know": "Clark is color blind, or so he's telling me." Kispert wrestles with grand themes, but he's equally adept at memorable miniatures. In "Signs," he makes effective use of brevity, creating power both in what's told and what's left out. The collection's first section, called "I Know," abounds with scenes of deception, so when the second section, "You Know," opens with a story narrated by an actor, it seems like the logical next step. The final story, "Mooring," plays out with echoes of the opener, not unlike a strange remix. It's all in keeping with Kispert's attention to the border between fiction and reality. While his depictions of contemporary life are wholly immersive, he also displays a talent for the speculative. Kyle, the protagonist of "How to Live Your Best Life," inhabits a marginal existence with his partner, Jerry, and their daughter, Chloe. In between acts of petty theft, he ponders whether they should appear on a game show that's a blend of The Newlywed Game and Family Feud, albeit with potentially lethal consequences. And in "Rorschach," live crucifixions carried out on death-row inmates garbed as Jesus have become a hot ticket around the country.
Kispert blends sharp characterization with intriguing premises throughout this memorable collection.
